Poor with the ball, Sam Curran redeems himself with the bat

When Sam Curran was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a then-record price of INR 18.50 crore on the back of impressive performances at the T20 World Cup for England, his franchise would have hoped that his performances would reflect on similar lines with the ball. 

Curran used the longer boundaries in Australia to good effect, banged the ball on short or back-of-length, forcing the batters to hit on the longer side, which was a ploy that did wonders.

While the tactic cannot be used everywhere in the world, it showed that the seamer can execute a plan well. However, he has not done any justice to the amount that PBKS shelled out. 

Since the start of 2023, Curran’s bowling has been on the downfall in T20s – 58 wickets at 36.5 at an economy rate of 9.8, which does not ooze much confidence. You dig further and you will find out that Curran, who is considered an old-ball specialist, has picked up 37 wickets at 34.50 (ER 9.8) during this phase, further indicating that his bowling has gone on the decline in T20 cricket.

When you look at the IPL, where he has been paid the big bucks, his dwindling returns with the ball – 10 wickets at 48.90, ER 10.2 since 2023 – you could say that PBKS have a cause for concern. After all, they have not finished above sixth since 2017. 

Where Curran has failed as a bowler, he has given the franchise a glimmer of hope with the bat. Before today (March 23), Curran struck at a strike rate of close to 130 and an average of 20.16 in T20s since 2023. 

However, in the IPL, since being picked up by PBKS last season, Curran has hit 339 runs at 30.82 along with a strike rate of 135.6, which includes a couple of fifties. Not to forget, he also hit an unbeaten 31-ball 49 in his final game of IPL 2023 against Rajasthan Royals at Dharamsala. On March 23 (Saturday), Curran smashed a match-winning 47-ball 63 at Mullanpur and in a way, he has continued from where he has left off, as far as IPL is concerned.

He came in at four in the powerplay with PBKS reasonably well-placed in a chase of 175 – ahead of Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone. He exited with PBKS needing just eight more to win. 

Between that, he played a well-compiled innings, which was filled with delightful strokeplay, luck and more importantly, determination. He could have thrown it away easily early on, and not many would have blamed him for it. 

Curran, who bowled just one over, having an off day would not have been something new. After all, he had managed just 34 off his first 30 deliveries. A hoick or a false shot would have meant that he wasted all those deliveries for absolutely nothing.

But he stuck around and finished off the job for his side. His next 17 deliveries, he upped the ante scoring 29 at a strike rate of 170.58.

It certainly is not a massive sample size, but this could be the beginning of Curran’s redemption and one can hope that it happens with the ball as well, sooner rather than later.

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