“He’s been overpaid for quite a few years now” - AB de Villiers’ blunt assessment of PBKS’ star overseas player

Former South African captain AB de Villiers reckons that England all-rounder Sam Curran has been overpaid in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for quite a few years now. While agreeing that the versatile cricketer is highly talented, De Villiers pointed out that his performances have not been up to the mark either in the IPL or in international cricket of late.

Curran was purchased by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a whopping ₹18.50 crore at the IPL 2023 auction. The all-rounder played 14 matches for PBKS last season, scoring 276 runs and claiming 10 wickets. Despite his underwhelming performance, Punjab Kings have retained him for the upcoming edition.

In a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, De Villiers was asked if PBKS would have been better off releasing Curran ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.

Agreeing with the remark, he commented:

“I don’t like to be controversial. But, in my opinion, he’s been overpaid for quite a few years now. He’s not a bad player; I like him. He’s had a fantastic World Cup, but that’s quite a few years back. I don’t think he’s had a very good IPL recently. Also, for England, he hasn’t played exceptionally well."

“He can turn things around like most world class players can. Nothing against Sam Curran. I still think he’s a wonderful player. I just think he’s been overpaid for a few years. Maybe it would have been a good move for them to let him go to open up some funds to buy different players,” the 39-year-old continued.

Curran has played 46 matches in his IPL career, scoring 613 runs at a strike rate of 143.22 and claiming 42 wickets at an average of 35.33 and an economy rate of 9.52.

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“Don’t think that’s being overpaid” - De Villiers backs ₹11.75 crore for Harshal Patel

While De Villiers questioned the high paycheck for Curran, he disagreed with the observation that Harshal Patel is being overpaid after the pacer was purchased by PBKS for ₹11.75 crore at the IPL 2024 auction.

The former Proteas star believes that Harshal possesses the skills to be a match-winner with the ball.

“Harshal going for a pretty nifty ₹11.75 crore. I don’t think that’s being overpaid. He’s a fantastic player. He is a wonderful T20 cricketer. He can also hit the cricket ball. The slower ball that he bowls bamboozles a lot of batters,” De Villiers opined.

He also backed his former RCB teammate to do well on flat wickets in Dharamsala and Mohali.

“Absolutely. He’s a success on all wickets. He’s got an X-factor slower ball that flies above almost eye level and dips below very quickly. Almost like a Dwayne Bravo had back in the day. He’s also got a very fast bouncer and he’s not shy to use it,” De Villiers commented.

Harshal has played 91 IPL matches, claiming 111 wickets at an average of 24.07 and an economy rate of 8.59.