The IPL auction hogged all the limelights as franchises spent their heart out to get their favourite players. Mitchell Starc emerged as the most expensive player in IPL history as Kolkata Knight Riders splashed a whopping 24.75 crore to acquire his service. As many as 77 players were bought by the ten franchises collectively.

3 things you need to know

• IPL auction took place on Tuesday
• Mitchell Starc was the most expensive player at the auction
• Punjab Kings bought eight players

Punjab Kings haven't been able to stamp their authority on the IPL stage and they tried to bridge the gap by going big in the auction. They picked up eight players on Tuesday which included the likes of Harshal Patel, Rilee Rossouw and Chris Woakes. They retained Sam Curran and will seek to end their IPL trophy drought next year.

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AB de Villiers names that one overpaid player in IPL

However, AB de Villiers pointed out one strategy which he insisted the franchise could have implemented. The former South African skipper believes Punjab could have released Curran and should have used that fund to bring in other players. While speaking on his YouTube channel he said, “I don’t like to be controversial. But, in my opinion, he’s been overpaid for quite a few years now. He’s not a bad player; I like him. He’s had a fantastic World Cup, but that’s quite a few years back. I don’t think he’s had a very good IPL recently. Also, for England, he hasn’t played exceptionally well."

De Villiers also went on to praise Harshal for his trickery in the shortest format.

“Harshal going for a pretty nifty ₹11.75 crore. I don’t think that’s being overpaid. He’s a fantastic player. He is a wonderful T20 cricketer. He can also hit the cricket ball. The slower ball that he bowls bamboozles a lot of batters."

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Punjab Kings squad for IPL 2024

Shikhar Dhawan (C), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.