Image Credit- ICC
Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Josh
Hazlewood, Steven Smith, Josh Inglis, and Sean Abbott are seven of the players
from Australia’s winning ODI World Cup team. Twenty-five players will be up for
auction in the 2024 Indian Premier League, with a starting price of INR 2 crore
(about $240,000).
The auction, which will be held for the first time
outside of India, will take place in Dubai on December 19.
Rachin Ravindra, a batting all-arounder for New
Zealand who took five wickets and amassed 578 runs at a strike rate of 106
during the World Cup, has set his basic price at INR 50 lakhs (about USD
60,000).
Other notable players in the highest base price band
include England batsman Harry Brook, who was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad,
fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, who was South Africa’s top wicket-taker at the
World Cup, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, and Kedar Jadhav.
There are 77 spots available for the ten teams, 30 of
which may go to international players. A strong bidding war between the teams
is predicted for Starc, Head, and Ravindra based on their skill set and
performance in the most recent ODI World Cup. Starc, who last competed for RCB
in the 2015 season, will be making his IPL comeback if he is acquired. He
participated in the 2018 auction and was purchased for INR 9.4 crore by KKR,
but missed the season because of injury. This time, however, Starc is keen to utilise
the IPL as preparation for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June.
Head was named Player of the Match in last month’s
2023 ODI World Cup semifinals and finals. After joining RCB in 2017 and
participating in ten IPL games throughout two seasons, he scored 205 runs at a
strike rate of 138.51. He hasn’t played in the IPL since then.
The IPL sent the teams a lengthy list of all 1166
players who had signed up for the auction on Friday. However, after the clubs
submit the names of the individuals they are interested in to the IPL, the
final pool will be significantly lower. There are 45 players from Associate
nations, 909 uncapped players (of whom 812 are Indian), and 18 Indian players
with caps on the lengthy list.