Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has believed England pacer Sam Curran is overpaid in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for several years now. While de Villiers agreed that the versatile cricketer is extremely talented, he pointed out that his performances have not been up to par either in the Indian Premier League or in international cricket in recent times.
The 25-year-old Curran was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a whopping Rs 18.50 crore in the IPL 2023 auction. The pacer played 14 matches for PBKS last season, scoring 276 runs and taking 10 wickets. Despite his underwhelming performance, Punjab Kings retained him for the upcoming edition.
In a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, De Villiers was asked if PBKS would be better off releasing Curran before the IPL 2024 Auction. He agreed with the observation, commenting:
“I don’t like to be controversial. But, in my opinion, he’s been overpaid for several years. He’s not a bad player. I like him. He’s had a great World Cup, but that happened a few years ago. I don’t think he’s earned Very good performance in the IPL recently. Also, for England, he has not played exceptionally well.
“He can turn things around like most world-class players do. Nothing against Sam Curran. I still think he’s a great player. I just think he’s been overpaid for a few years. “It was probably a good move for them to let him “By going to unlock some money to buy different players.”
Curran played 46 matches in his IPL career, scoring 613 runs at a strike rate of 143.22 and took 42 wickets at an average of 35.33 and an economy rate of 9.52.
‘Don’t think this is overpayment’ – De Villiers backs Rs 11.75 crore to Harshal Patel
While De Villiers questioned Curran’s high salary, he disagreed with the observation that Harshal Patel is overpaid after the pace setter was bought by PBKS for Rs 11.75 crore in the IPL 2024 auction. The former Proteas star believes Harshal has the skills to win the ball.
“Harshal will get a very tidy sum of Rs 11.75 crore. I don’t think it’s too much. He’s a great player. He’s a great T20 cricketer. He can also hit the cricket ball. De Villiers has seen the slower ball he bowls fool a lot of batsmen.
He also backed his former RCB teammate to do well on flat wickets in Dharamsala and Mohali.
“Absolutely. He is successful on all wickets. He has a slower .
33-year-old Harshal has played 91 matches in the Indian Premier League where he has taken 111 wickets at an average of 24.07 and an economy rate of 8.59.