England’s Sam Curran has become the most expensive auction in Indian Premier League (IPL) history when he was bought by Punjab Kings for £1.85 million.
Six franchises bid for the 24-year-old all-rounder before Punjab finally succeeded.
Yorkshire’s Harry Brook has been sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for £1.35m.
The 23-year-old was England’s top run-scorer in the recent 3-0 Test series win in Pakistan.
Curran was adjudged the player of the tournament in that year’s Twenty20 World Cup, helping England become double white-ball world champions.
He took 13 wickets at 11.38 in Australia last month and improved his batting to become a genuine all-rounder.
“Back where it all started! Looking forward to it,” Karan tweeted.
The previous most expensive IPL player was South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who was signed by Rajasthan Royals for £1.6 million in April 2021.
That figure was surpassed again on Friday when Mumbai Indians paid £1.75m for Australian all-rounder Cameron Green.
England red-ball captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes was snapped up for £1.63 million by Chennai Super Kings – one of the franchises to lose Curran.
Adil Rashid will join Brooke in Hyderabad, while Will Jacks and Reece Topley have been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals have taken Full Salt.
Former Test captain Joe Root initially went unsold but was later bought by Rajasthan Royals for £100,000.
Left-arm seamer Josh Little became the first Irish player to win a full IPL contract as he was signed by Gujarat Titans for around £450,000.
England’s 18-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, Tom Curran and Chris Jordan all went unsold.
