There is no doubt that the IPL Auction 2024 has written history. As many as 72 players including 30 foreigners had the privilege of being purchased by various teams in this auction. A total of 10 teams spent ₹2,30,45,00.000 in the auction to get hold of those players.
The most expensive player at this auction was Mitchell Starc of Australia. Kolkata Knight Riders acquired him with a huge contract of ₹24.75 crores. On the other hand, another Australian, Pat Cummins, became a part of SunRisers Hyderabad for a contract worth ₹20.50 crores.
The costliest Indian player at the IPL was Harshal Patel, and the Punjab Kings signed him by spending ₹11.75 crores. In fact, Starc became the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL. Incidentally, this Australian fast bowler had earlier played in the IPL in the year 2015. The payout of Starc was more than the payout of Sam Curran in last year’s IPL auction. The Punjab Kings spent as much as ₹18.50 for Curran.
Starc wins the favour of KKR
KKR and Gujarat Titans were involved in a long battle for Starc before KKR was the ultimate winner. Starc, 33, is now playing the IPL with the T20 World Cup as a target for him. In the past, he has played in 2 IPLs and has been able to bag 34 wickets in 27 matches. Moreover, he can boast of having an average of 20.38.
Cummins goes to Hyderabad
On the other hand, in spite of being a regular at the IPL, Pat Cummins didn’t participate in the 2023 IPL since he wanted to focus on the ODI World Cup and the Ashes. Although there was an intense bidding battle between Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, SunRisers Hyderabad, and Chennai Super Kings, it was Hyderabad who won the tussle. It is not the first time that Pat has been able to get this huge sum of money. Before KKR paid him a purse of ₹15.5 crores before the 2020 edition of the IPL.
The other fast bowlers who were able to steal the limelight were Harshal Patel, Alzarri Joseph, Shivam Mavi, and Umesh Yadav. Incidentally, Punjab Kings bought Harshal for ₹11.75 crores, RCB purchased Joseph for ₹11.50 crores, Gujrat bought Umesh for ₹5.80 crores, and LSG got the services of Mavi for ₹6.40 crores.
The batsmen
In the category of batsmen, the most notable purchase was Daryl Mitchell who became a part of CSK for as much as ₹14 crores. On the contrary, Travis Head, the hero of the ODI World Cup final, went to SRH for ₹6.80 crores. Rachin Ravindra, the batsman from New Zealand, went to CSK for a paltry sum of ₹1.8 crores. Again, Rovman Powell, the T20 skipper of the West Indies, became the most expensive capped batsman at this IPL auction, and he went to Rajasthan Royals for as much as ₹7.40 crore.
Also, CSK purchased Shardul Thakur for ₹4 crores and Mumbai Indians bought Gerald Coetzee, the South African pacer, for ₹5 crores.
