Rajasthan Royals sign England international Tom Curran following busy IPL Auction

The Rajasthan Royals have added to their roster of England’s international stars, after successfully signing Tom Curran in the 2020 VIVO Indian Premier League auction.

Tom Curran, who cost his base price of 1 Cr, will be the latest top England player pulling on the Rajasthan Royals pink alongside his international teammates Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer.

The all-rounder was one of a number of high-profile signings by the Royals who also added batsmen Robin Uthappa (India) and David Miller (South Africa) to the team which will be captained by Steve Smith next season. The Royals also re-signed bowlers Jaydev Unadkat (India) and Oshane Thomas (West Indies).

England teammate Jos Buttler said: "It is fantastic to welcome Tom to the Royals family to join Stokesy, Jofra and myself. Tom will bring a lot with both bat and ball and it's great to have another teammate from the England World Cup squad at the Royals. He is a quality player and a good mate of mine so I can't wait to link up with him in Jaipur. Hopefully England fans will be getting behind us and the Royals during the next IPL."

Rajasthan Royals Lead Owner Manoj Badale summed up the auction for the Royals. He said “The dynamics of a third auction are always about filling gaps. Jaydev Unadkat is one of India’s finest bowlers, he works well with our captain Steve Smith, they have a terrific relationship and he fits really well with the Royals, so we are pleased to have him back.”

“We are lucky to have our overseas big four (Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes & Jos Buttler), so our thought process was about finding backups for each of those players for the overseas slots. We had a couple of important slots to fill around Indian quick bowlers and some experience in our batting, which is why Robin Uthappa was such an important purchase for us today.”

Curran joins the Royals after a previous spell in the Indian Premier League with the Kolkata Knight Riders. The 24-year-old all-rounder has represented England at both ODI and Test level and was part of England’s World Cup winning squad in the summer, although he did not feature.

A dramatic auction saw the Royals strengthening ahead of another tilt at the title they won in the IPL’s inaugural season. The franchise added eleven players to their squad.

 

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