Australia skipper Pat Cummins becomes most expensive player in IPL history
IPL Auction 2024: Australia captain Pat Cummins had an eventful day at the IPL auction on Tuesday. He became the most expensive player in IPL history when the price tag surpassed Rs 20 crore. Cummins was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.5 crore.
However, Cummins' achievement lasted only an hour before he was defeated by none other than Australia's Mitchell Starc.
Now Cummins is the second most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League.
Cummins drew the attention of Mumbai Indians, who entered the bidding war for the first time, with a base price of Rs 2 crore. MI backed out as the price rose, while Royal Challengers Bangalore joined the bidding war against CSK. When it appeared that RCB would walk away with the players, SRH entered the fray, and a high-bidding war ensued.
The entire arena cheered and applauded as he passed the 20 crore mark. RCB eventually gave up, and SRH signed the Australian World Cup-winning captain for Rs 20.50 crore, making Cummins the second most expensive player in IPL history.
Cummins had previously played for the Kolkata Knight Riders but had decided not to play in the league this year in order to focus on the World Test Championship Final, which he won as Australia's captain this year.
Cummins has 45 wickets in 42 league appearances, but the right-arm quick also has a strike rate of 152 and one of the fastest half-centuries in league history (14 deliveries). Cummins has 143 scalps from 121 T20 matches with an economy rate of 7.98.
Pat Cummins made his Test and ODI debut against South Africa at the age of 18 in 2011. However, a series of injuries forced him to retire from professional cricket for six years. He returned to Australia in 2017 and has never looked back since.
He stood out in England during the 2019 Ashes series. Cummins was the series' leading wicket-taker, with 29 wickets at an average of 19.62 across five matches. He played a key role in Australia's series victory and quickly rose to become the world's top Test bowler.
He also won Australia's coveted Allan Border Medal as Men's Cricketer of the Year for 2018-19. He has also evolved as a batsman over the years. In fact, he has two Test 50s under his belt.
Cummins, the Australian cricket team's World Cup-winning captain, has now etched his name in the tournament's annals.
- PTC NEWS
