Who said what - top 3 expert reactions to Sam Curran's blistering 88 in CSK vs PBKS IPL 2025 match ft. Aakash Chopra

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Sam Curran produced a sublime knock of 88 off 47 balls in Match 49 of IPL 2025 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday (April 30) in Chennai. Although it eventually came in a losing cause, Curran received praise from the cricket fraternity for his career-best IPL knock.

Batting first, CSK lost two wickets in quick succession, putting them in a spot of bother. Although Ravindra Jadeja (17) started well, he soon perished, with CSK struggling at 48/3 in the sixth over. However, Curran came to the rescue for the Super Kings, as he found his rhythm to garner consistent boundaries.

Dewald Brevis (32) played a good hand to support Curran, as the southpaw displayed clean hitting. The highlight of Curran's innings was when he smashed 26 runs off Suryansh Shedge.

Unfortunately, Marco Jansen got rid of him in the 18th over, as the Englishman fell short by 12 runs off his first IPL century. Thereafter, Yuzvendra Chahal registered a terrific hat-trick to restrict CSK to a 190-run total.

In response, captain Shreyas Iyer (72) top-scored for the Punjab-based franchise, as they sealed the chase with two balls to spare.

On that note, let's take a look at the top expert reactions to Sam Curran's impressive knock against PBKS.

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#1 Aakash Chopra (YouTube)

Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra shares his thoughts on Sam Curran's knock. Although Chopra feels the all-rounder was struggling for form, he lauded the 26-year-old for his vital contributions.

Here's what he said on his YouTube channel:

"Sam Curran seems like a counterfeit coin. When will it work, when will it not work, how will it work and all that, but he played well to score 88 runs. His bowling was not going well, it was not going well for some time, so let's be fair, his batting was also not going well. The batting order was a bit different that he was sent at number three. His contributions were important for the side." (3:08)

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#2 Wasim Jaffer (ESPN)

Former Punjab Kings batting coach Wasim Jaffer opined that he likes the idea of Sam Curran coming in at No. 3. As per Jaffer, during his stint with Punjab, he floated an idea of promoting Curran up the order, as it will give him enough time to adjust to the surface and accelerate the run rate. In a mid-innings show on ESPNcricinfo, he said:

"When the openers got out, he's somebody I always like batting at number three even. When I was at Punjab I insisted that because I think Sam Curran at 6, 7 or 8 doesn't give you that same value because he's not known to somebody who's come in and hit big sixes but he does surprise, once he plays 10-12 balls, he can hit big sixes." (6:05)

Jaffer further feels Curran did well to absorb pressure and take on opposition bowlers with his positive intent. He added:

"We've seen today how he paced his innings and how he took on bowlers when he realized he was under pressure and took on Brar and Yuzvendra Chahal. So, very smart batting from him and he's used to batting at number three especially in this format. So you know I really like that move because it gives you that balance as a seamer as somebody who can stabilize the innings as well."

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#3 Darren Ganga (ESPN)

During the post-match analysis on ESPNcricinfo, Darren Ganga lauded Sam Curran for his courage despite not playing enough games for CSK in this season. On being asked about an impressive aspect of Curran's innings, Ganga said:

"It was his ability to counter spin in that middle phase, the way he took down the opposition bowlers in that phase and and sort of gave them hope. It's been a recurring issue for CSK and the fact that he hasn't played a lot of matches all season for him to step in showed a lot of courage and self-belief." (50:44)