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Star Australian trio Mitchell Starc, Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell will earn close to $2 million each in this year’s IPL, but Mitchell Johnson was surprisingly snubbed on day one of the auction.
Starc was always expected to attract big money and was bought for a cool $1.82 million by Kolkata Knight Riders early in Saturday’s auction.
Maxwell cashed in with a $1.75 million bid from the Ricky Ponting-led Delhi Daredevils while BBL star Darcy Short was bought for $775,600 by Rajasthan Royals.
But it was Lynn who came up trumps against his Aussie teammates, with the powerful right-hand batsman being snapped up for $1.86 million by Kolkata.
Shane Watson was signed by Chennai Super Kings for $775,600.
Australian one-day international teammates Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis will join forces at Kings XI Punjab on $1.2 million deals.
Star paceman Pat Cummins was bought by Mumbai Indians for $1.05 million.
Steve Smith and David Warner will still be the IPL’s highest-earning Australians after the duo were retained by their franchises before the auction on $2.42 million deals.
But Perth Scorchers star Johnson had no luck, with no IPL team willing to bid on his $387,800 reserve price.
“To all the idiotic people out there hiding behind a computer screen typing absolute junk……. I’m still smiling & enjoying my life with my amazing family,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
T20 gun for hire Gayle was also snubbed.
Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Hashim Amla and Martin Guptill were other high-profile players to be initially overlooked.
But like Gayle and Johnson, they can be bought later in the auction, which ends on Sunday.
England’s Ben Stokes was the biggest winner on day one of the two-day auction, bought for $2.4 million by the Rajasthan Royals.
Stokes is no certainty to cash in on his payday, though, with his pending court appearance on an affray charge to decide his playing fate.
Manish Pandey ($2.13 million), KL Rahul ($2.13 million), Sanju Samson ($1.55 million), and Kedar Jadhav ($1.51 million) were among other big earners.
Afghan spinner Rashid Khan, who has starred in the BBL for the Adelaide Strikers, was bought for $1.75 million by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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