Not once in the previous 16 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auctions has the bid reached closer to Rs. 20 million crowns. In fact, the auction purse for each team at the start of the 2008 IPL was Rs. 20 million crowns.
On Tuesday, the barrier was broken. Not just once, but twice. Australia’s World Cup-winning speed duo of captain Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc broke all records to become the biggest beneficiaries of the IPL phenomenon.
While Cummins became the first to redesign the Rs. 20 million barrier as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore to sign Cummins for a whopping Rs. 20.50 million crowns.
Minutes later, in a one-on-one between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans, Starc emerged as the most expensive player of all time in the IPL and was snapped up by KKR for a whopping Rs. 24.75 million crowns.
Both KKR and GT had more than R31 million in their kitty when the bidding began for Starc, who was included in the fourth series of the auction at the Coca-Cola Arena. It was a no-brainer that franchises would open up their wallets to land the prized catch.
Soon after, Chennai Super Kings signed New Zealand sensation Daryl Mitchell for Rs. 14 million. The defending champions also had another Kiwi in their roster in up-and-coming all-rounder Rachin Ravindra (Rs 1.80 crore).
Mumbai Indians benefited from Gerald Coetzee’s (Rs 5 crore) name appearing ahead of Starc and Cummins as they added the young South African to their squad at a reasonable price. It also allowed them to go for another overseas pacer in Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka (Rs 4.60 crore) despite entering the auction with a limited purse.
Apart from Cummins, Sunrisers also added Australian opener Travis Head (Rs 6.80 crore), while Rajasthan Royals spent more than half of their auction purse on West Indian power hitter Rovman Powell (Rs 7.40 crore), who was the first player. will be offered by auctioneer Mallika Sagar.
Among Indian cricketers, Harshal Patel (Rs 11.75 crore) emerged as the most expensive signing, with Punjab Kings welcoming the effective death bowler with open arms.
Overall, a staggering amount of Rs. 230.45 crore spent by 10 franchises and signed a total of 72 slots. International cricketers weren’t the only ones to benefit from Moneyball.
More than a dozen domestic cricketers have joined the crorepati club, with Sameer Rizvi (Rs 8.40 crore), a young big hitter from Uttar Pradesh, leading the pack. Chennai Super Kings acquired Rizvi after a fierce bidding war that also included GT and Delhi Capitals.
Jharkhand wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Kushagra (Rs 7.20 crore) went to Capitals while Tamil Nadu’s Shahrukh Khan (Rs 7.40 crore) didn’t lose too much money despite being released by Punjab Kings before the auction. The Kings’ bid to correct the price failed as they lost a paddle game to Gujarat Titans, with the Titans walking away with a lanky hitter.
