Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc broke an Indian Premier League (IPL) auction record as he surpassed teammate and captain Pat Cummins within hours at the bidding process held on Tuesday in Dubai.
Starc was bought by the Kolkota Knight Riders for 24.75 Indian crore or 2.9 million US dollars after Australia’s World Cup winning captain Pat Cummins was grabbed by Sunrisrs Hyderabad for 20.50 Indian crore, a sum equivalent to 2.4 million US dollars after entering the bidding process at a base value of 2 crore.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made the first attempt to bag Cummins but had opposition come their way from Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
It boiled down to RCB confronted by Sunrises Hyderabad, a price that the former could not match that beat the previous highest price paid for a player at an IPL auction that stood at 18.50 crore doled out by Punjab Super Kings for England allrounder Sam Curran before the start of the 2023 season.
The 30-year old Cummins who skipped the 2023 IPL season to focus on Australia cricket said he was looking forward to relishing the 2024 event.
“Pumped up to be joining SRH for the upcoming IPL season. I’ve heard a lot about the Orange Army, I’ve played at Hyderabad a few times and always loved it so can’t wait to get started. Great to see another Aussie in Travis Head over there as well. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this season, and hopefully plenty of success,” said Cummins.
He has had previous stints with the Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkota Knight Riders.
Among his team mates at Sunrises Hyderabad for the 2024 IPL season will be Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasanarna de Silva who was bought for 1.5 India crore.
