Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder Sam Curran has failed to do justice to his whopping price tag of INR 18.50 Crore in the ongoing IPL season.

In 10 innings, Curran has scored 196 runs at an average of 24.50 while he claimed seven wickets from 11 matches.

On Monday (May 8), Curran was at the receiving end of Andre Russell’s carnage. Russell (42 off 23) roared back to form by smashing Curran for three sixes off four balls to turn the match in favour of KKR, who overhauled the target of 180 on the final delivery with five wickets in hand.  

After the game, PBKS bowling coach Charl Langeveldt backed Sam Curran to bounce back in the next game.

"He's a winner. You want to back him. He's our senior bowler as well, you can have days like this," Langeveldt said at the post-match media interaction.

Curran gave away 20 runs in the penultimate over to return with the bowling figures of 3-0-44-0.

"He's one of those players who can come back and win us a game. It's just about going back to the drawing board, keep it as simple as possible," he added.

Lauding Russell's knock, Langeveldt said: "He's always a massive player, a game changer. We wanted to keep him quiet and tried to bowl outside his hitting zone."

Kagiso Rabada has featured in just five matches for PBKS this season as they preferred Nathan Ellis over the Proteas speedster.

"Ellis has been bowling well. He's been our go-to guy, bowls well inside the powerplay and handles pressure.

"It was a simple decision. I didn't even think about that and said 'okay, we need to go with Ellis', and he produced again tonight," the bowling coach stated.

(With PTI Inputs)