Australia’s Starc and Cummins records most expensive signings in IPL history

Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have set a new record as the most expensive signings in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Starc, who had not played in the IPL for eight years, was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $2.98m, surpassing the previous record set by Cummins when he was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $2.46m.

The previous record signing was England's Sam Curran, who joined the Punjab Kings for $2.23m last year. 

Cummins, who recently led Australia to victory in the 50-overs World Cup in India, entered the auction with a base price of 20 million Indian rupees. 

Initially, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings showed interest in him, but eventually dropped out as a bidding contest proceed. Royal Challengers Bangalore pursued Cummins, but the 2016 champions Hyderabad came out as the winners in the tug-of-war over the fast bowler. Cummins is also seen as a valuable option for leadership at Hyderabad. 

Head coach Daniel Vettori remained unsure about this possibility, saying that a decision would be made closer to the time after considering the remaining cricketing commitments. 

After an absence of eight years, the highly sought-after left-arm fast bowler Starc returned to the scene and instantly attracted interest from Mumbai and Delhi. However, both teams withdrew from the bidding as the competition step up, leaving Kolkata to secure Starc's services with the highest bid. This development was not surprising to Kolkata's CEO, Venky Mysore, who noted the growth of the IPL and the subsequent increase in salary caps and player fees.

Another player who struck it big in the auction was New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell, who Chennai acquired for 140 million rupees ($1.68m), a whopping ten times his base price. 

Joining the millionaire club was India seamer Harshal Patel, who joined Punjab Kings for 117.5 million rupees ($1.4m), marking the first time the auction was held outside of India.

The dates for next year's IPL are yet to be announced by the Indian cricket board, but it is expected that the tournament will take place between March and May. Notable unsold players in the auction were former Australia captain Steve Smith and England spinner Adil Rashid.