DUBAI: Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc was sold for Rs 24.75 crore to Kolkata Knights Riders (KKR) on Tuesday, becoming the most expensive player in the history of IPL auctions. Starc will return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) after an eight-year absence, having previously played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Record-smashing Aussies
He surpassed Australia captain Pat Cummins who went to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 20.50 crore on Tuesday in the auction in Dubai. An intense bidding war followed for the World Cup 2023 winning fast bowler with Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad raising their paddles frenetically to secure the services of the fast-bowling all-rounder.
In the end, it was SRH who broke the bank for Cummins, who drew the highest-ever bid surpassing the Rs 18.5 crore that Punjab Kings had shelled out for England's Sam Curran last year. It was not the first time that Cummins attracted huge sums at the IPL auction. Ahead of the 2020 edition, KKR had paid Rs 15.5 crore for his services.
While the Australians dominated the purses in auction, former Australian skipper Steve Smith went unsold.
Other notable buys
Among the big buys included New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell who had a good ODI World Cup. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 14 crore. Harshal Patel, who was released by RCB ahead of the auction, remains a sought-after player with Punjab Kings paying Rs 11.75 crore for the out of favour India pacer.
Experienced pacer Umesh Yadav was picked up by Gujarat Titans for Rs 5.80 crore after a bidding tussle with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals.
West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph also drew in big bucks. He was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 11.50 crore.
SRH also grabbed the services of Australia's World Cup final hero Travis Head for Rs 6.80 crore after an intense bidding battle with CSK. Veteran medium Jaydev Unadkat was snapped by SRH for Rs 1.60 crore.
Meanwhile, Rovman Powell emerged as the costliest player in set 1 of the IPL auction, going to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 7.40 crore. West Indies T20 skipper Powell, who had a base price of Rs 2 crore, was the first player to go under the hammer at the mini-auction and as many as three teams showed keen interest to rope him in for the 2024 season.
Eventually, Rajasthan Royals got their hands on the big hitter, who also captains their team Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Head, who scored a match-winning century in the ODI World Cup final against India and also starred in the World Test Championship final against the Rohit Sharma-led team earlier this year, on the other hand, saw reigning champions Chennai Super Kings and SRH indulge in a bidding war.
The wicketkeeper batter was finally grabbed by 2016 champions SRH.
"We really wanted him (Travis Head) because we needed an opening left-handed batter. Adding to that he can bowl spin as well. I never thought we would get him for that price because of his performance being tremendous in the last couple of years in T20Is and ODIs for Australia," SRH's spin bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan said.
New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra, with a base price of Rs 50 lakh, was snapped by CSK for a modest Rs 1.8 crore. Ravindra was another star of the recently held ODI World Cup in India.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore added Lockie Ferguson to their bowling attack, buying the Kiwi player for Rs 2 crore.
Australian bowler Spencer Johnson will make his debut in the IPL after he was bought for a massive amount of Rs 10 crore by Gujarat Titans. Ashton Agar was sold to the Lucknow Super Giants for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
Australian Jhye Richardson who had been part of Punjab Kings was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 5 crore.
Young South Africa pacer Gerald Coetzee attracted a winning bid of Rs 5 crore from Mumbai Indians.
South African batter Rilee Rossouw who went unsold in the first round, was the center of a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, following which he was eventually sold to the Kings for Rs 8 crore.
Sri Lankan seamer Nuwan Thushara found a place in the Mumbai Indians squad after he was bought for Rs 4.80 crore. Mumbai Indians also bought Sri Lankan bowler Dilshan Madushanka for Rs. 4.60 crore.
Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman was sold to the Chennai Super Kings for his base price of Rs 2 crore.
Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 2 crore while his national teammate Mohammed Nabi was sold to the Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.50 crore.
Former RCB all-rounder David Willey was sold to Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2 crore, while his fellow England teammate Tom Curran was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 1.5 crore.
Indian pacer Shardul Thakur returned to CSK for Rs 4 crore, while Manish Pandey returned to Kolkata after he was bought for Rs 50 lakhs by the Knight Riders
Sherfane Rutherford who was also released by RCB, found a spot in the Kolkata Knight Riders team after he was sold to them for Rs 1.5 crore. His West Indian teammate Shai Hope was sold to the Delhi Capitals for a Sum of Rs 75 lakhs.
England's Harry Brook was snapped by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore, while Gus Atkinson was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 1 crore.
Uncapped all-rounders
29-year-old Shubham Dubey who caught the attention of the bidders after an impressive Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 5.8 crore.
Uttar Pradesh batter Sameer Rizvi was picked up by CSK for 8.40 crore.
Former Punjab Kings player Shahrukh Khan was sold to Gujarat Titans for an amount of Rs 7.40 crore.
Uncapped wicket-keepers
19-year-old Jharkhand team wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 7.20 crore after a brief bidding war with Gujarat Titans
Englishman Tom Kohler-Cadmore was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 40 lakhs, while Indian Ricky Bhui was bought by Delhi Capitals for 20 lakhs.
Uncapped bowlers
Former Gujarat Titans bowler Yash Dayal was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 5 crore.
Bowlers Kartik Tyagi and Sushant Mishra were bought by Gujarat Titans for Rs 60 lakh and Rs 2.20 crore respectively.
Spinner M. Siddharth was sold to Lucknow Supergiants for Rs. 2.40 crore.
Rasikh Dar and Akash Singh were both bought for the base price of Rs 20 lakhs by Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively.
Spinner Shreyas Gopal was bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakh. Gujarat Titans picked up Manav Suthar for the same price.