IPL Auction 2024: Starc, Cummins shatter record for most expensive player in dramatic session

There were questions of whether the Rs. 20 crore mark could be breached today and Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc both dashed past that. Australian captain Cummins, who has had a golden year, capped it off by fetching a price of Rs.20.50 crore, with Sunrisers Hyderabad breaking the bank for the fast bowler. His record, however, stood only for a few minutes as teammate and fellow Australian pace stalwart Mitchell Starc got snapped up for a stunning Rs. 24.75 crore by KKR for what will be his first season in the IPL in eight years.

IPL Auction 2024 Live Updates: Mitchell Starc shattered the record for most expensive IPL player

IPL Auction 2024 Live Updates: Mitchell Starc shattered the record for most expensive IPL player(PTI)

There was also an intense bidding war for Daryl Mitchell, who was eventually bought by CSK for Rs.14 crore. Harshal Patel was acquired by PBKS for Rs.11.75 crore. Alzarri Joseph was bought by RCB for Rs. 11.50 crore. Cummins and Starc's teammate and Australia's World Cup final hero Travis Head was also snapped up by SRH for Rs.6.80 crore.

Today's event in Dubai may not be a grand spectacle of the two-day behemoth that the IPL mega auction is but it is nothing less. The star-studded list featuring Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra and more promises to deliver a charismatic 8-plus hours of entertainment.

Now on to some trivia. The 10 franchises have a whopping purse of Rs. 262.95 crore to spend from, out of which, Gujarat Titans have the most capacity – a hefty sum of Rs.38.15 crore, followed by the second-biggest purse of Rs.34 crore for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings are the other two franchises with a bag of over Rs.30 crore to splurge.

Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings have plenty of money too with Rs.28.95 crore, Rs. 23.25 crore and Rs.29.1 crore respectively to fine tune their squad of players. Mumbai Indians ( Rs.17.75 crore), Lucknow Super Giants ( Rs.13.15 crore), and Rajasthan Royals ( Rs.14.5 crore) have the smallest war chests compared to their competitors.

A total of 77 slots are available for the franchises to fill, out of 213 Indians and 116 foreigners. The format is simple. Players are categorized into different sets on the basis of their skills and will be up for grabs as and when their names are withdrawn from the bag. Mallika Sagar, who recently conducted the WPL auction will take over from Hugh Edmeades to become the first female auctioneer in the 16-year-long history of the IPL. As for the price brackets – there are quite a few. The highest price category is Rs. 2 crore, for which 23 players have registered for, Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel and Umesh Yadav included. Then there is the Rs. 1 crore bracket, Rs.75 lakh bracket, Rs. 50 lakh, Rs. 20 lakh and so on.

While the presence of some players has risen the stocks for the IPL 2024 auction, there are some notable absentees too, the most prolific being the England duo of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, along with Shakib Al Hasan and Joe Root. Nonetheless, the magnitude of this gala event is such that none of it can take any sheen away from what lies in store.

The auction is just the kind of precursor fans needed as the 2024 edition of the IPL promises to be bigger. In a development that has already caused a huge stir, Hardik Pandya will captain Mumbai Indians for the first time in an IPL season which also happens to be MS Dhoni's swansong.

The return of two young India captains to the fore in Shreyas Iyer and Pant, and the homecoming of Gautam Gambhir to KKR as their mentor has already made heads turn, and we haven't even entered the new year yet. Although an official date hasn't been announced yet, the IPL 2024 is believed to kick off from March 22.

Below are a few key pointers regarding IPL Auction 2024:

- Mitchell Starc shattered the record for most expensive player in IPL history, being acquired by KKR for ₹24.75 crore

- Pat Cummins became the first player to be sold at more than Rs.20 crore, having been acquired by SRH for ₹20.50 crore but his record stood only for a few minutes.

- There was also an intense bidding war for Daryl Mitchell, who was eventually bought by CSK for ₹14 crore

- Harshal Patel was acquired by PBKS for Rs.11.75 crore

- Alzarri Joseph was bought by RCB for Rs.11.50 crore

- Rovman Powell was the first player to be sold, having been bought by RR for Rs.7.40 crore

- Travis Head was bought by SRH for Rs.6.80 crore

- SRH also acquired Harry Brook for Rs.4 crore

- Rachin Ravindra was bought by CSK for Rs.1.80 crore

- The 10 franchises have an overall purse of Rs.262.95 crore to spend, out of which Gujarat Titans have the highest capacity at ₹38.15 crore.

- Mallika Sagar is the auctioneer.

- A total of 77 slots are to be filled.

- Players have been divided in a total of 19 sets.