It's been an eventful day for Aussie pacers at the IPL auction 2024 with Pat Cummins first breaking the bank and becoming the league's most expensive player, before being surpassed by Mitchell Starc an hour later.
The record was earlier held by Sam Curran when he was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.50 crore in the 2022 season. However, the Aussie captain created a new record on 19 December in Dubai, when he was bought for Rs 20.50 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad. His record though didn't hold for too long as Kolkata Knight Riders spent more than half of their auction kitty to buy Mitch Starc for Rs 24.75 crore.
Pat Cummins was part of the second Set of players sold in the auction on Tuesday and it was Chennai Super Kings who made the opening bid for the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup-winning captain, at his base price of Rs 2 crore. There was silence in the hall for a while, before Mumbai raised their paddle and the bidding raced to Rs 3.80 crore in no time, with Mumbai.
Mumbai bowed out of the bidding at Rs 4.80 crore but RCB then entered the race, raising it to Rs 5 crore. At Rs 7.80 crore, Chennai Super Kings exited the bidding. RCB thought they had their man but Sunrisers Hyderabad raised their paddle to make it Rs 8 crore. It was between the two teams then as each refused to relent, but Sunrisers eventually made the winning bid of Rs 20.50 crore.
A look at the 5 most expensive buys of the 2024 IPL auction, after the sale of the first 2 Sets.
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Cummins has participated in six IPL seasons so far, scoring 379 runs and taking 45 wickets in 42 games.
"That’s a really high price. Rs 20 crores wasn’t expected," said former Punjab Kings coach Anil Kumble on JioCinema's broadcast. "SRH is perhaps looking for a captain and that could be the reason why we see the desperation to get in. Perhaps RCB were also looking at a long-term captain," he added.
After being acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders for an incredible 15.50 crores, he was the most expensive purchase made during the 2020 Indian Premier League auction. The 2022 season was his last season of play, during which he claimed seven wickets and scored 63 runs in five games.
"The player that Pat Cummins is and considering the last year-and-a-half that he has had, both with leadership and as a bowler with the World Test Championship winning side, retaining the Ashes in England during the English summer and then leading the Australian ODI team to another ODI World Cup," said former KKR coach Eoin Morgan.
"Recent form and confidence is a huge contributing factor. It’s also a demand-supply issue. There are quite a few teams looking for leadership roles to be fulfilled not only as captain but also in the changing room. So Pat Cummins thoroughly justifies his price tag," he added.
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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