‘They got Sikandar Raza for almost free but Sam Curran is..’- Ex-Indian cricketer analyzes Punjab’s mini-auction picks

The Punjab franchise had the second biggest purse with them going into the mini-auction but still came back with 12.2 crores unused. Former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra, recently, analyzed Punjab’s squad after the auction. He hailed the franchise for buying the services of Sam Curran for the next edition. 

The Punjab-based franchise bought the services of the English all-rounder for a whopping sum of INR 18.5 crore, making him the most expensive player in the history of the Indian T20 League auction. The franchise also bought Sikandar Raza for the upcoming season, who could bat in the middle order and provide a spin option. 

Raza has been bought as a back-up option to Liam Livingstone, who is currently nursing an injury. Chopra hailed the franchise for acquiring his services for his base price i.e., INR 50 lakh.  

“To be very fair, they have got Sikandar Raza for almost free. But Sam Curran is a phenomenal pick. They have Arshdeep Singh who have already proved his mettle. The team can play either Kagiso Rabada or Nathan Ellis and then Curran; he is your gun.

“Be it bowling in death or middle overs or batting in the lower-middle order, he can do everything and that kind of player you want. And when he’ll play in Mohali, which has bigger side boundaries, that will go in Curran’s favour,” he added.

Despite having a lot of money left in the bank, Punjab failed to acquire a suitable replacement for Mayank Agarwal and didn’t go after a specialist spinner as well. Shedding light on the same, Chopra said, 

“But has Curran’s selection solved all the problems? Well, I don’t think so. Since you let Mayank Agarwal go, you should have shown interest in picking up an Indian batter. They could’ve picked someone like Manish Pandey and even not him then it could’ve been an overseas player, at least. But they didn’t go that way. So, I’m a little surprised,” Chopra said.