Shortly after the INR 20 crore mark was breached today, when Australia captain Pat Cummins created a new IPL record, it was broken.
Cummins was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 20.50 crore, before teammate and fellow Australian pace stalwart Mitchell Starc was snapped up for a whopping INR 24.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla.
Cummins has participated in six IPL seasons so far, scoring 379 runs and taking 45 wickets in 42 games.
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.
While Starc broke the record earlier held by Sam Curran, this is his first season in the IPL in eight years, as he focused on the national team and Test match cricket.
Curran was bought by Punjab Kings in the 2022 season for INR 18.50 crore
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made the opening bid for the Cummins, the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup-winning captain, at his base price of INR 2 crore.
Mumbai Indians followed suit, with a bid of INR 3.80 crore.
Mumbai stopped at 4.80 crore before Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) raised it to INR 5 crore. At INR 7.80 crore, Chennai Super Kings exited but RCB were in for a tussle with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Starting at 8 crore, the duel ended with SRH eventually making the winning bid of INR 20.50 crore.
There was also an intense bidding war for Daryl Mitchell, who was eventually bought by CSK for INR 14 crore.
Harshal Patel and Alzarri Joseph caused a stir as PBKS and RCB snapped them up for INR 11.75 crore and INR 11.50 crore.
Cummins and Starc’s teammate and Australia’s World Cup final hero Travis Head was also snapped up by SRH for INR 6.80 crore.
Qrius Quotient: IPL 2024
The 10 franchises have a whopping purse of INR 262.95 crore to spend from,
Gujarat Titans have the biggest purse at INR 38.15 crore, followed by the second-biggest purse of INR 34 crore for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings are the other two franchises with a bag of over INR 30 crore to spend.
Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings have ample room as well with budgets of INR 28.95 crore, INR 23.25 crore and INR 29.1 crore respectively.
Mumbai Indians (INR 17.75 crore), Lucknow Super Giants (INR 13.15 crore), and Rajasthan Royals (INR 14.5 crore) are among the smaller budget teams in IPL 2024.
A total of 333 players are going under the hammer in Dubai during the 2024 IPL auction, with 214 Indians and 119 overseas candidates.
With a maximum of 77 slots open, each of the 10 teams are allowed a roster of a maximum of 25 players.
Most top-level players have a base price of INR 1.5 crore and INR 2 crore. 23 players registered for the former and 13 are in the INR 1.5 crore base price.
First female auctioneer in IPL 2024, some big names sit out
Mallika Sagar, who recently conducted the WPL auction will take over from Hugh Edmeades to become the first female auctioneer in the history of the IPL.
Many big names in world cricket are sitting this edition out, the most prolific being English all-rounder Ben Stokes, Joe Root and pacer Jofra Archer, along with Bangladesh stalwart Shakib Al Hasan.
In a development that has already caused a huge stir, Hardik Pandya will captain Mumbai Indians for the first time in an IPL season which is touted to be legendary India captain MS Dhoni’s last.
IPL 2024 will also see Rishabh Pant in action after his long absence due his accident, and the homecoming of Gautam Gambhir to KKR .
Although an official date hasn’t been announced yet, the IPL 2024 is believed to kick off from March 22.
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