‘He hasn’t done anything special’ – Aakash Chopra questions Punjab Kings for retaining star player amid poor performances

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra recently analysed the Punjab Kings team squad ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Chopra believes that Punjab has shown faith in the English all-rounder Sam Curran despite his poor performances for the past 12 to 15 months. Even though Curran is not a poor performer, he is extremely expensive for the kind of performance he offers to the Kings in IPL.  

Punjab Kings welcomed back Sam Curran to their squad after his incredible performances throughout the T-20 World Cup 2022 where he was awarded as the player of the series. Current did not perform as expected in the IPL 2023 and Aakash Chopra believes that he should have been released ahead of the IPL 2024 auction because even though he does not justify the price tag that has been offered to him by the franchise. 

Aakash Chopra on Sam Curran’s recent performances in cricket leagues 

“I was extremely surprised. Why did you retain Sam Curran? They have parked 18.50 crore rupees in one place. I won’t call him a non-performing asset but a very expensive asset for sure. He was sold for 18.50 crore rupees because there were only three all-rounders in the small auction,” Aakash Chopra discussed on his YouTube channel.

“However, if you see his performances in the last IPL, the SA20 now, or the last year, he hasn’t done anything special for the last 12-17 months. He just played well in the 2022 T20 World Cup and that too because the side boundaries were very big in Australia,” Chopra said.

“He should have been released. If you wanted, there was a buyback option available. You could have got him back for half the price or even cheaper, but Punjab said they would keep him with them. Is that the Trevor Bayliss connection? I don’t know, I am just contemplating,” he further added.