By Sports Reporter

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ZIMBABWE cricket team all-rounder Sikandar Raza will have an opportunity to compete against some of the world’ leading cricketers after he was signed by the Punjab Kings for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the player auction in Kochi on Friday.

Raza was expected to attract offers from IPL teams during the auction following his exploits for the Zimbabwe team this year.

As expected he was signed by the Punjab Kings at his base price of INR 50 lakh (approximately US$61,408.80).

He becomes just the fourth player from Zimbabwe to be signed up by an IPL side after Ray Price, Tatenda Taibu, and Brandan Taylor.

Punjab Kings opened the bidding at the base price and no other team opted to take the player.

Kings also signed England all-rounder Sam Curran in the auction for Rs. 18.25 crore($2.23 million) which made him the most expensive player in IPL auction history.

Raza had impressed with his performance in the T20 World Cup in Australia where Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan in the Super 12 stage.

He averages 20.98 in T20Is with a strike rate of 128.86. With the ball, Raza has picked 38 scalps at an economy rate of 7.18.