Aakash Chopra believes that PBKS should have released Sam Curran for the IPL 2024.
Former Indian batter and commentator, Aakash Chopra, expressed his surprise at the Punjab Kings (PBKS) retaining Sam Curran for a whopping INR 18.50 crore for the upcoming IPL 2024.
Curran gained attention for his outstanding performance in the T20 World Cup 2022, where he took 13 wickets and was named the Player of the Tournament, helping England secure the title. He was also named Player of the Match in the final against Pakistan.
However, Chopra believes that PBKS should have released Curran, given his performance in the last season. Notably, the England all-rounder scored 276 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2023 at an average of 27.60 and a strike rate of 135.96, including a high score of 55.
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He also took 10 wickets but had an expensive economy rate of 10.22, leading the cricket expert to question the match fees he is getting from PBKS.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “I was extremely surprised. Why did you retain Sam Curran? They have parked 18.50 crore rupees in one place. I won't call him a non-performing asset, but a very expensive asset for sure. He was sold for 18.50 crore rupees because there were only three all-rounders in the small auction.”
He signed off by saying, “However, if you see his performances in the last IPL, the SA20 now, or the last year, he hasn't done anything special for the last 12-14 months. He just played well in the 2022 T20 World Cup and that too because the side boundaries were very big in Australia.”