Sam Curran was drafted by Kings XI Punjab for around one million US dollars at the Indian Premier League auction, while England team-mate Jonny Bairstow is set to join Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Curran has made a favourable impact since bursting on to the international scene earlier this year and particularly burnished his reputation in the Test series against India in the summer.
The 20-year-old was therefore snapped up by Kings XI, who paid 7.2 crore rupees for his services (£788,000) ahead of next year’s edition which starts on March 29 and runs until May 19.
Sam Curran is sold to @lionsdenkxip for INR 720 lacs
VIVO #IPLAuction
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 18, 2018
The Surrey all-rounder is on the fringes of the England one-day set-up so may be able to feature in the entire tournament.
Bairstow will only be available until April 25 before reporting for international duty ahead of the World Cup – although that did not dissuade this year’s runners-up from signing the wicketkeeper-batsman for 2.2 crore rupees (around £245,000)
The Yorkshireman is one of only three batsmen – alongside Indian pair Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – to go past 1,000 runs in the ODI format in 2018.
Alex Hales, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan – all three of whom featured in the most recent staging of the event – did not attract any interest.
At the start of the day there were 19 English-qualified players hoping to secure a deal, including limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan.
