Every year, the Auctions of one of the biggest leagues in the world, IPL, amaze us with the expensive buys or the players who go unsold, and this time, it’s no different, but the level of insanity has gone to a whole new level.
We are witnessing a surge in the amount of the most expensive buys in every IPL Auction. Last year it was Sam Curran for a whopping sum of 18.50 Crores, and the amount this year has been increased by more than 6 Crores in order to buy Mitchell Starc.
Well, the amount for which Pat Cummins got sold is also almost 4 crores more than the amount Sam Curran got last year, as the Sunrisers Hyderabad went all in for the Australian captain.
The teams at the Auction appeared to be in desperate need of fast bowlers, especially the overseas ones. While the Sunrisers already have the likes of T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Marco Jansen, the point behind going all in for Pat Cummins, who will eat up your one overseas slot and does what your bowlers can already do.
What could be the logic behind Hyderabad going after Cummins desperately?
Aiden Markram was leading the franchise in the IPL 2023. He may have led the Sunrisers-born franchise Eastern Cape in SA20 to their maiden title, but he was miserable as a leader in the IPL 2023. Despite having the likes of Heinrich Klaasen, Harry Brook and Glenn Phillips, he could not operate and sort out the combinations, which resulted in a forgettable season, as SRH finished at the bottom.
It was certain that Sunrisers would be going after someone who possesses leadership skills and can lead the team from the front. There were only limited options for who could lead a team, and Pat Cummins was one of them.
The Australian fast bowler has led his national side to the World Test Championship against India and the World Cup 2023 win also against India, which proves he can lead the team in the best possible way and was fitting well as the face of the team as well.
Marco Jansen and Umran Malik have been proven to be quite expensive, so they needed a seamer, who not only has the talent but has enough experience like Bhuvneshwar Kumar to deliver under pressure. Pat Cummins has the capability to take the team on his shoulders and lead from the front.
Entering into the Auctions, Sunrisers Hyderabad had the luxury of buying a couple or even three big buys, as they had a purse of 34 crores, which was much more than most of the teams. They already got Travis Head for just 6.8 Crores, who was expected to go a few more than that, but the bargain of Travis Head allowed them to spend a few extra on Pat Cummins.
Yes, they could have gone for Starc as well, but for the left-arm seamer, there were a lot of teams who had their eyes on Starc, plus Sunrisers needed a leader, so they went all in for Pat Cummins. Eventually, they got Wanindu Hasaranga for just 1.5 crores as well.
They were lucky enough to get a few players at a low price, considering their popularity and skill set, and now their side looks much stronger, as they have plenty of options for a number of positions. It all comes down to execution, if Pat Cummins can lead the Sunrisers to victory in the IPL 2024, the management will feel that he was worth every penny. If not, then he will be replaced by another millionaire in the next Auctions.
What about Mitchell Starc, who robbed the IPL 2024 Auctions with a record-breaking sum of 24.75 Crores?
Each one of us is familiar with the abilities and the skill set of Mitchell Starc. We have seen KKR struggling to find the right set of bowlers for the last few years. They have tried Umesh, Southee, Shivam Mavi and many more, but no one could land them the glory they needed.
Now that they released all the non-fitting players of their team, they also had a huge amount in their purse, and it was sure that they would be going for Mitchell Starc, as they had already tried Pat Cummins a couple of years back.
They bought Starc back in 2018 but he could not play because of the injury, now that he was available after 8 years of playing his last IPL game, the teams were all excited to have him. In a long bidding war with Gujarat Titans, KKR went bonkers and were ready to spend a lot more than what we call a hefty sum on the Australian fast-bowler.
They finally acquired him for nearly 25 crores, and as Venky Mysore said, the money doesn’t matter as long as they got the player were counting on. Mitchell Starc is the one, who will not let them down and go hard from the first game.
In 58 T20I innings, the southpaw has taken 78 wickets with an economy of around 7.5, which is more than great for a bowler bowling in the powerplays and at the death. No wonder teams were ready to dive into the battle of buying him.
Later on, they got Chetan Sakariya and Gus Atkinson for cheap, which powered their already strong-looking set-up.
