IPL 2023 Auction: Sam Curran, Cameron Green react after creating history in tournament

Kochi, Dec 24: All-rounders Sam Curran and Cameron Green created history as they became the most and second most expensive players in IPL auction history.

In the IPL mini-auction, held in Kochi, England's Curran fetched a whopping bid of Rs 18.50 crore to emerge as the most expensive player in the history of the premier domestic T20 league.

Australia all-rounder Green, meanwhile, went to Mumbai Indians after getting sold for a jaw-dropping Rs 17.50 crore and became the second costliest buy in the tournament's history.

IPL 2023 Auction in a nutshell

After breaking the bank both Curran and Green seemed overwhelmed and both the youngsters are looking forward to making an impact.

Curran endured a sleepless night

Curran - who has been reunited with his previous franchise Punjab Kings - admitted that he endured a sleepless and nervous night ahead of the auction. Curran's name witnessed intense bidding with Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings raising their paddles frenetically to secure the services of T20 World Cup player-of-the tournament.

IPL 2023 Auction Highlights

In the end, it was Punjab Kings that broke the bank to get Curran, who drew the highest-ever bid that bettered the previous best buy of Rs 16.25 crore that Rajasthan Royals had shelled out to grab South African all-rounder Chris Morris in 2021.

"I didn't sleep much last night, was a bit excited, and also nervous about how the auction was going to go. But yeah, absolutely overwhelmed and incredibly humbled that I managed to get what I did. I never had any expectations to receive that," Curran said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Live - Auction Special'.

The 24-year-old all-rounder said he is happy to be back with the Punjab outfit, with whom he made his IPL debut in 2019. Punjab Kings were then known as Kings XI Punjab.

"Obviously, going back to where it all started for me in the IPL with Punjab, where I did my debut season four years ago. So, to be going back there seems fantastic and I am looking forward to joining a few English teammates as well," Curran said.

Coming off a brilliant T20 World Cup outing, Curran just can't wait to start his new journey with Punjab Kings in the IPL. "Yeah, I think it will be very different, but like I said, I know the stadium. I know Mohali pretty well so that obviously is a little bit of an advantage, having some familiar teammates who'll help me.

"And yeah, I feel confident going into this tournament, where I've come off a fantastic World Cup. And yeah, it's amazing, I'm just incredibly excited, it's just a few months away till I will be coming to India, but it's incredibly exciting," he said.

"A massively big opportunity, which I'm so excited about, it's incredible as you can probably imagine. There are so many things running through my mind and yeah it's absolutely incredible, very overwhelmed."

Cameron Green excited to learn from big names

Green also made his appearance on the Star Sports show 'Cricket Live - Auction Special', claiming that he was pinching himself after the bidding was over.

Green revealed that being part of a franchise of such repute excites him as he'll get a chance to play with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, etc. Green claimed he is excited to make his debut in the tournament with his fellow countrymen.

He said, "Obviously, I'm pinching myself. I think joining such a great team in Mumbai, we obviously got such a history, all the past players that have played for them, and how great they are and how good the team is at the moment. I think you can look through all the players, playing with them, Rohit, Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav to name a few. Yeah, having Tim David, and Jason Behrendorff also from Australia, so I'm so excited. We've got so much talent that you can learn off them and improve your own game. I loved my time in India for the two weeks then, so I'm happy I'm going to come back and be playing with the Mumbai Indians."