England all-rounder Sam Curran made history, when he was bought for a whopping Rs 18.5 crore by the Punjab Kings at the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini auction today in Kochi.
Curran became the most expensive player in the history of IPL auctions when, after an intense bidding war among Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings, ended in the PBKS securing the services of T20 World Cup player-of-the tournament.
The bid bettered the previous best buy of Rs 16.25 crore that Rajasthan Royals spent for South African all-rounder Chris Morris in 2021.
Curran, whose base price is Rs 2 crore, was picked up for Rs 7.2-crore by Punjab Kings - the third-highest bid then in the auctions prior to IPL 2019. Ahead of the 2020 season, Curran was released by Punjab Kings but the pace bowling all-rounder was finally sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 5.5 crore.
Australia all-rounder Cameroon Green was second-highest earner, fetching Rs 17.5 crore bid from Mumbai Indians.
England Test skipper Ben Stokes was the third-highest gainer, fetching Rs 16.25 crore from CSK who pipped Kolkata Knight Riders in another intense bidding war.
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England players were in demand as batter Harry Brook earned a Rs 13.25 crore winning from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Brook, who struck three hundreds in as many games and set new record for most runs by an England batter in a Test series in Pakistan, started at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore.
The bidding for Brook was mainly between SRH and Rajasthan Royals.
India international Mayank Agarwal was also bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.25 crore. His base price was set at Rs 1 crore.
New Zealand stalwart Kane Williamson was sold at his base price at Rs 2 crore to Gujarat Titans.
Out-of-favour India batter Ajinkya Rahane was sold at his base price of Rs 50 lakh to Chennai Supper Kings, the only bidder for the player.
South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw and Bangladesh al-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan went unsold.
West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5.75 crore.
