STARC CONTRAST: IPL AUCTION Pacer eclipses Pat Cummins to become the most expensive player

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 19

Australia being the reigning world champions in the 50-over format reflected in the Indian Premier League auction as pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins attracted record-breaking bids.

Starc, whose base price was Rs 2 crore, was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore in Dubai today, making the veteran left-arm pacer the most expensive player in the history of the IPL.

Australia captain Cummins, who was influential in stopping the Indian juggernaut in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad, held the record briefly after he was bagged by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore. England’s Sam Curran had held the honour after he was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.5 crore at the previous auction.

There was a beeline for Starc’s acquisition as first Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals sparred for the fast bowler. However, both teams backed out as the bid price started to hit the roof. Eventually, it was left to a bidding war between Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders. GT backed out when the final bid was tabled at Rs 24.75 crore.

Australian opener Travis Head, who scored a match-winning 137 in the World Cup final against India, was also bought by Sunrisers for Rs 6.8 crore.

Amongst other international stars, New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell was bought for Rs 14 crore by Chennai Super Kings. The MS Dhoni-led side also picked up the talented Kiwi opener Rachin Ravindra for Rs 1.8 crore. Ravindra and Mitchell were among the top-5 run-scorers in the recent World Cup.

The English duo of fast bowler Chris Woakes — bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 4.2 crore — and batter Harry Brook — bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore — also attracted interest.

Punjab Kings broke the bank to get the signatures of fast bowler Harshal Patel. The T20 specialist, whose base price was Rs 2 crore, became the most expensive Indian player at this auction as he was snapped up for Rs 11.75 crore.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bought West Indian pacer Alzarri Joseph for Rs 11.50 crore. While teammate and all-rounder Rovman Powell was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 7.4 crore. After getting Hardik Pandya in a coup from Gujarat Titans to captain their side, Mumbai Indians shored up their pace attack by acquiring South African Gerald Coetzee and Sri Lankan Dilshan Madushanka for Rs 5 crore and Rs 4.6 crore, respectively.

Interestingly, it was the Chennai team that showed interest in Coetzee, who is yet to play in the IPL. With Lucknow Super Giants and MI joining the fight, CSK relented and left it to the two teams to slug it out.

Uncapped players

There was a lot of interest from the teams for uncapped players as well. Uttar Pradesh’s batter Sameer Rizvi was bought by CSK for Rs 8.4 crore, while Vidarbha’s Shubham Dubey was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5.4 crore. In fact, Delhi Capitals also showed interest in Dubey. Similarly, Delhi did everything to seal the bid for wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Kushagra. Another uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman, Robin Minz, was sold to GT for Rs 3.60 crore.

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