IPL Auction 2024 Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins
IPL Auction 2024; Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins: Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were sold for Rs 45.25 crore at the Indian Premier League player auction here on Tuesday and Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad spent big to add the Australian fast bowlers. The question now arises whether the bidding for these two was rushed, as is often the case during auctions, or whether these two players, who are among the best cricketers of their generation, were brought in with a careful strategy.
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If we look at the logic of Sunrisers (SRH bid on Pat Cummins) Rs 20.50 crore for Cummins and Rs 24.75 crore by Knight Riders for Starc, both these fast bowlers were seen in India’s position during the recent ODI World Cup. . Cup. Performance was pretty good but that’s not the only reason to include it. Starc last played in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015 and has since been unable to play in the lucrative T20 league due to various reasons.
However, when this left-arm fast bowler decided to participate in the auction, he fit perfectly into the plans of the Knight Riders, who were looking for an aggressive fast bowler. Knight Riders had dropped pacers like Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson and Shardul Thakur before the auction and it was imperative for them to include a key fast bowler in the squad.
Knight Riders had to add a total of 12 players, including three foreigners, and had a budget of Rs 32.7 crore, which led the franchise to try its best to buy Starc. Even at the age of 33, Starc can easily touch 140 kmph. Starc, who has played 58 matches in T20 Internationals, has an economy rate of 7.63 which is very respectable. After finishing seventh in the last two seasons, the team will be hoping that Starc will lead them to success next season.
On the other hand, despite recently leading Australia to its sixth World Cup title, questions have been raised over Cummins’ place in the ODI format. Cummins last played in the IPL in 2022 and managed to take seven wickets in five matches with an economy rate of 10.68 before being ruled out due to injury. The New South Wales fast bowler has decided not to play in the IPL in 2023 to play for the national team.
Cummins, however, has the ability to trouble any batting line-up on his day, as he did against India in the recent World Cup final. Despite the lack of consistency in the limited-overs format, Sunrisers have placed their bets on Cummins. The team needed a good overseas fast bowler to complement the fast bowling trio of Umran Malik, T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the Rs. After entering the auction with 34 crores, the team was in a position to bid big. Sunrisers management must also have noticed Cummins’ leadership abilities. Now it remains to be seen whether these two bowlers will live up to the expectations of their team.