“12 Crore kithe leke Jane ??” – Fans react as PBKS save over Rs 12 crore after IPL 2023 auction, with 3 slots vacant
Punjab Kings (PBKS) have bought six players in the IPL 2023 mini-auction held in Kochi on Friday, December 23. They splurged a record sum of Rs 18.5 crore to buy England all-rounder Sam Curran, who became the costliest player ever in the T20 extravaganza.
With 13 wickets, Curran emerged as the Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, which England won. The 24-year-old has an overall experience of playing 145 T20s, scoring 1731 runs and scalping 149 wickets.
PBKS also bought the experienced Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikander Raza, who scored 219 runs and picked up 10 wickets for his side in the 2022 T20 World Cup. The 36-year-old has scored 3,109 runs and bagged 79 wickets in 158 T20s so far.
In addition, Punjab Kings bought the likes of Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, and Shivam Singh. They, however, couldn’t fill their three vacant slots, including an overseas place, despite having Rs 12.2 crore in their purse. The franchise will look to fill their vacant slots by buying unsold players in the auction.
Fans questioned the Punjab-based franchise whether they came to only buy Sam Curran in the IPL Auction.
Here are some of the best Twitter reactions:
Punjab Kings only came to buy Sam Curran
Sam Curran 💔
#SamCurran #IPLMiniAuction #IPL2023 #PunjabKings https://t.co/tsRcx7gJ7Z
🥳Good thing about Sam Curran leaving CSK is him going to Punjab Kings. You never know they might leave him next season to save money and we can cash in Dhoni 12 crores. 😌🥳
@CricCrazyJohns Not happy with the auction of Punjab kings they could have bought shreyas gopal and shivam mavi both.
But no, why😭😭😭😭
Punjab Kings owners ko Investment se pehle hi Returns chahiye.
Kudos to Punjab kings for finishing the auction with 12 crores left and 3 slots to fill👏👏
Punjab Kings to Curran: twitter.com/CricCrazyJohns… https://t.co/7NVc3gBZ6I
Punjab Kings-
Highest Bid for a player.
Had 12.20 Cr and 1 overseas slot left.
A mysterious team always🙄🙄
Which team except for punjab kings (pbks) releases a big player and buys no replacement for him. PBKS fans have to be a joke now in front of other team fans.
#pbks #IPL2023 #IPL2023Auction #IPLAuction
After that auction I finally know prabsimran will play whole season for punjab kings
Not even taking 8th overseas player for min price is embarrassing. And why not push more money for Agarwal if we’re just not going to spend it #pbks #punjabkings #iplauction
#PunjabKings @PunjabKingsIPL
12 Crore kithe leke Jane ??
Meanwhile, Curran and Raza expressed gratitude for being picked up by PBKS in the auction.
Taking to Twitter, Curran wrote:
“Back to where it all started! Looking forward to it.”
Back to where it all started! Looking forward to it 🦁 twitter.com/punjabkingsipl…
Sikander Raza told ESPNCricinfo:
"Alhamdulillah (thank God) it has happened. I am really happy, humble and excited at the same time. I would have [been fine with] any franchise but to have a Punjabi munda in Punjab, it is a great match."
Players bought by PBKS with prices in IPL Auction 2023
Sam Curran (₹18.50 Cr), Sikander Raza (₹50 L), Harpreet Bhatia (₹40 L), Vidwath Kaverappa (₹20 L), Mohit Rathee (₹20 L) and Shivam Singh (₹20 L).
Record Alert 🚨
Sam Curran 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙋𝙇!
He goes BIG 🤯- INR 18.50 Crore & will now play for Punjab Kings 👏 👏
#TATAIPLAuction | @TataCompanies https://t.co/VlKRCcwv05
Punjab, however, have a strong set of players, including batters, all-rounders and bowlers. The franchise finished sixth with seven wins in 14 games under Mayank Agarwal last season and will be keen to lay their hands on the IPL trophy for the first time.
PBKS Retentions: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar.