Aussie quick Pat Cummins most expensive pick at IPL auctions
Other top bids for the Twenty20 tournament included Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab, ₹10.75 crore) and South African all-rounder Chris MorrisA total of 332 cricketers went under the hammer for 73 available slots
Pat Cummins became the most expensive player sold at the auctions for the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League on Thursday, with Kolkata Knight Riders shelling out an eye-watering ₹15.50 crore to grab the Australian fast bowler at almost double the highest for last year’s auctions.
The 2019 record of ₹8.4 crore—paid for Indian bowlers Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy—was easily overhauled as Cummins also became the highest paid overseas player in IPL history.
“Pat Cummins was a key player for us and we were determined to get him. When we got the first opportunity we came in," said Venky Mysore, chief executive, Kolkata Knight Riders.
Other top bids for the Twenty20 tournament included Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab, ₹10.75 crore) and South African all-rounder Chris Morris (Royal Challengers Bangalore, ₹10 crore).
Spinner Piyush Chawla, sold to Chennai Super Kings for ₹6.75 crore, became the most expensive Indian player at the auctions.
Together, the eight franchises spent a total of ₹140 crore, nearly 30% more than last year, at the auctions in Kolkata to buy 62 players—33 from India and 29 from abroad.
A total of 332 cricketers went under the hammer for 73 available slots.
Young players made their presence felt with India’s Under-19 captain Priyam Garg and unheralded batsman Virat Singh sold to SunRisers Hyderabad for ₹1.9 crore each.
However, the highlight of the auctions was the rags-to- riches story of 17-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal, bought for ₹2.40 crore by Rajasthan Royals.
Jaiswal, who used to sell pani puri on the streets of Mumbai just two years ago, shot to fame earlier this year when he became the youngest batsman to score a 50-over double-hundred.
Several other players were snapped up for under ₹5 crore, including Aaron Finch (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals), Alex Carey (Delhi Capitals), and Ravi Bishnoi (Kings XI Punjab).
“Performance, popularity and a clear focus to win the IPL 2020 tournament guided the intent of participating teams in this auction. Therefore, we have seen Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab aggressively bidding for top performing players. Players such as Jaiswal coming from a solid performance in the domestic circuit along with prominent players such as Maxwell did fetch good sums of money. This was expected, therefore there were no big surprises in this auction," said Tuhin Mishra, managing director of Baseline Ventures.
IPL has been both a money-spinner and a big draw sporting event. The 2019 edition of the tournament drew 462 million viewers, according to data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council India shared by the official broadcaster, Star India. The reach of the tournament was up 12% from the previous season as Star aired the matches in eight languages and across 24 channels, besides movie channels on Sundays. According to a Financial Express report, it has generated more than ₹2,000 crore in advertisement revenue from the tournament this year.
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