Sam Curran

Not only Sam Curran shares his birthday with the legend Wasim Akram, but he has also shown the same qualities with the ball at a very young age. The left-arm Surrey speedster has got the ability to bring the ball back into the right-hander and is considered to be a child prodigy. He made an excellent Championship debut against Kent, at only 17 and didn't take much time to impress one and all with his skills. Sam has cricket in his blood. His father Kevin Curran played for Zimbabwe while his older brother Tom is also a regular for England in the shorter versions.

One of Curran’s most remarkable achievements in English County Championship came in his debut against Kent in 2015. He took a fifer in the first innings and became the youngest-ever player to take a 5-wicket haul in the championship at just 17 years of age.

The ECB recognized the talent and handed Sam Curran his first Test cap when he made his debut against Pakistan at Headingley in June 2018. Two months later, in only his second Test match, he bagged the Man of the Match award for his all-round display against India. In a spell of great swing bowling, he ran through the Indian top order and later orchestrated his batting prowess by scoring vital runs, which eventually proved to be the differential factor.

Sam was adjudged the Player of the Series against India as he played a vital part in the series win. When you have such an amazing start, it rarely goes unnoticed. In the Indian T20 League, Curran was picked up by Punjab for a whooping 7.2 crores in the 2019 auctions but endured a subpar season, with the only succor being a hat-trick against Delhi, which made him the youngest player to take a hat-trick in the League. He was subsequently purchased by Chennai in the 2020 auctions and had an amazing season with them due to which Sam was retained before the next edition. His progress with the ball and talent with the blade also helped him secure a regular place in the national team.

During England's tour of India in 2021, Sam amazed everyone with his heroic batting albeit in a losing cause in the third ODI. His unbeaten 95 off 83 balls earned him many accolades and that also was the joint-highest score in an ODI by a No.8 batsman.