After an intense bidding war between three franchises, Kiwi batter Daryl Mitchell becomes the second-most expensive player yet at the IPL 2024 auction after being purchased by for a whopping Rs 14 crore by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
After initial tussle between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, Chennai entered the bidding war at Rs 12 crore and eventually bagged the Kiwi stroke-maker. He will reunite with compatriots Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner in the CSK camp.
Mitchell is naturally better in the longer formats, but he also has a strong record in T20Is, averaging 24.86 with a strike rate of 137.22. His total T20 stats are extremely impressive, averaging 30.79 with a strike rate of 135.14, and he has 18 half-centuries in 169 batting appearances.
In the ICC Men’s 2023 ODI World Cup, the Kiwi hitter scored 552 runs at an average of 69.00 and a powerful strike rate of 111.07 in just nine innings.
Mitchell has only played two IPL games where he participated for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2022 and scored 33 runs.
A total of 333 players are going under the hammer in Dubai during the 2024 IPL auction, of which 214 are Indians and 119 are overseas cricketers.
However, the 10 teams together have only a maximum of 77 slots open, with each team allowed a roster of a maximum of 25 players.
23 players registered their base price at the maximum of Rs 2 crore with another 13 slotting themselves in the Rs 1.5 crore base price.
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