Starc came up for bidding in the first set of fast bowlers – the fourth set of the day – and the battle for him began between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals. However, the race was swiftly taken over by Gujarat Titans and KKR, the only franchises with more than INR 30 crore in their purse at that point, and KKR won the final bid.
The last time Starc featured in an IPL auction was in 2018 when KKR had bought him for INR 9.4 crore. He didn’t play that season, though, because of injury; he hasn’t played the IPL since the 2015 season, in fact.
Before Starc’s record bid, Sunrisers had spent INR 20.50 crore (US$2,470,000 approx.) to buy Cummins, staving off competition from Royal Challengers Bangalore to get their man. Cummins’ price had surpassed the record of INR 18.50 crore that Punjab Kings had paid to buy English allrounder Sam Curran at the 2023 IPL auction. Cummins had skipped the 2023 IPL to focus on international cricket; his previous auction price was INR 15.50 crore, when KKR had bought him in 2020.
“Pumped to be joining SRH for the upcoming IPL season,” Cummins said after he was sold. “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 Trav Head over there as well. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this season, and hopefully plenty of success.”
ODI World Cup performers get big paydays
Mitchell was fiercely fought for by Capitals, Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, and was finally bought for INR 14 crore by CSK after entering the auction at a base price of INR 1 crore. Ravindra was also bought by CSK for INR 1.8 crore.
CSK had also wanted to buy Head, the Player of the Match in the ODI World Cup semi-final and final, but lost him to Sunrisers, who bought him for INR 6.8 crore.
Both Coetzee (INR 5 crore) and Madushanka (INR 4.6 crore) were bought by Mumbai Indians for a total of INR 9.6 crore – these were their first two buys at the auction.
The surprise big buys
How did the Indian players fare?
Fast bowlers Umesh Yadav and Shivam Mavi were also in high demand. SRH and DC tried to buy Umesh but the Titans eventually bought him for INR 5.8 crore. Mavi became LSG’s first buy at the 2024 auction, when they outbid RCB by spending nearly half of their remaining purse to buy him for INR 6.4 crore.
Jaydev Unadkat, who once commanded a bid of INR 11.4 crore in the 2018 auction, was sold for INR 1.6 crore to SRH this time.
The steal deals
DC managed to buy England batter Harry Brook for INR 4 crore; Brook had been bought by SRH for INR 13.25 crore last year and subsequently released after an unimpressive maiden IPL season.
Who was unsold?
Australian batter Steven Smith and South African batter Rilee Rossouw, who had listed their base prices at INR 2 crore, and Indian batters Manish Pandey and Karun Nair, were unsold in the first set of capped batters. There was low demand for capped wicketkeepers and spinners, with Phil Salt, Josh Inglis, Kusal Mendis, Akeal Hosein, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ish Sodhi, Adil Rashid and Tabraiz Shamsi all unsold.
