'He's been overpaid' - AB de Villiers gives damning verdict on Sam Curran's IPL price

Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers believes that Sam Curran has been overpaid for a few years now in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Notably, Punjab Kings broke the bank and signed the England all-rounder for INR 18.50 crore, which made him the highest-paid cricketer in IPL history until recently when Mitchell Starc (INR 24.75 crore) and Pat Cummins (INR 20.50 crore) overtook him.

In the last edition of the tournament, Curran played 14 matches, scored 276 runs and picked up 10 wickets. He also led the franchise in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, but despite this, there were a lot of rumours of the franchise letting him go to release some money. However, PBKS decided against it and retained him, which prompted AB de Villiers to believe that he is currently being overpaid.

The 39-year-old mentioned that he doesn’t want to sound controversial as he likes Sam Curran as a player but emphasised on his poor performances in the cash-rich league in the last edition. Hence, the former cricketer added that it would have been good for Punjab to try their luck elsewhere, as Curran hasn’t delivered for the franchise so far. He however reminded that the all-rounder is not a bad player and expects him to turn things around in the future.

“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,” de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

De Villiers however also expects the English player to turn things around and improve his performance in the coming season. “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,” he added.