“He’s been overpaid,” declares AB de Villiers in a critical assessment of Sam Curran’s IPL fee.

Sam Curran has been overpaid in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a few years, according to former South African captain AB de Villiers. He was the highest-paid cricket player in IPL history until Mitchell Starc (INR 24.75 crore) and Pat Cummins (INR 20.50 crore) just passed him. Notably, the Punjab Kings broke the bank to sign the England all-rounder for INR 18.50 crore.

Curran participated in 14 games, amassed 276 runs, and claimed 10 wickets in the previous competition. In spite of this, there were numerous rumors that the organization was letting him go in order to save up cash. He also led the team while Shikhar Dhawan was not there.

Nevertheless, PBKS chose not to do so and kept him on, which led AB de Villiers to conclude that he is currently receiving an excessive salary.

While he acknowledged that he liked Sam Curran as a player and didn’t want to come across as controversial, the 39-year-old focused on his subpar results in the lucrative league during the previous season. Since Curran hasn’t performed well for the team thus far, the former cricketer said, it would have been wise for Punjab to look elsewhere for success. But he also emphasized that the all-rounder is a capable player and that he will eventually turn things around.

“I prefer not to stir any controversy. But I think he’s been overpaid for a good number of years now. I think he’s a decent player. Though that was quite a few years ago, he had a great World Cup. He hasn’t exactly had a great IPL lately, in my opinion. He hasn’t played particularly well for England either, de Villiers added on his YouTube channel.

However, AB de Villiers also believes that the English player will make a change and perform better in the upcoming campaign. Like most elite athletes, he has the ability to turn things around. Not a word against Sam Curran. He is still, in my opinion, an amazing player. Simply put, I believe he has been overpaid for a while. In order to free up money to purchase other players, it might have been a wise decision for them to let him go, he continued.