These 8 players from 8 franchises prove variety was the flavour of IPL 2020 auction

The auction for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 season held in Kolkata on December 19 saw some interesting pickings. While Australia’s pace spearhead Pat Cummins was purchased by Kolkata Knight Riders for a record ₹15.5 crore, another Aussie, the big-hitting Glenn Maxwell went to his former franchise Kings XI Punjab for ₹10.75 crore. Veteran South African all-rounder Chris Morris was the third-most-expensive player at the auction, picked up for ₹10 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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Among Indians, old warhorse Piyush Chawla was bought by Chennai Super Kings for ₹6.75 crore while young Yashasvi Jaiswal was sold to Rajasthan Royals for an impressive ₹2.4 crore. It was a good auction for West Indian players as well with pacer Sheldon Cottrell being purchased by KXIP for a massive ₹8.50 crore while Shimron Hetmyer went to Delhi Capitals ₹7.75 crore.

A total of 62 players, 29 overseas and 33 Indians, were sold at the auction. The bidding war saw cricketers with varied skills sets and experience getting picked by the franchises. Here's a closer look at eight buys variety was a key factor in the decision-making.

#8. Chennai Super Kings: Sam Curran (All-round wonder)

Talented England all-rounder Sam Curran was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 5.5 crore. Curran is a versatile cricketer who can deliver crucial performances with both bat and ball. .

Curran’s ability to deliver when the chips are down was very much evident in the Test series at home against India in 2018 when he came up with a number of significant counter-attacking knocks, and picked up big wickets to play the major role in England’s series win.

The impressive showing landed him a hefty Rs 7.2 crore contract with Kings XI Punjab for 2019. He was, however, released by the franchise after he scoring 95 runs from nine games at a strike rate of 172.72, and claiming 10 wickets with the ball.