Pat Cummins is heading back to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL after attracting $A1.34 million in the auction, but there was no such luck for Steve Smith.
Cummins didn’t have to wait long for a hefty payday as the third lot of the event but his price represented somewhat of a bargain for the Knight Riders, who’d paid around $A3.1 million for him at the 2020 IPL auction.
Cummins played seven games for KKR in the 2021 IPL, taking nine wickets and scoring 93 runs. He did not return for the second portion of the season after the COVID-19 postponement.
He will be joined at the Knight Riders by talented India top-order batsmen Shreyas Iyer, who fetched the biggest pay packet, attracting $A2.27 million.
But former captain Smith was not as lucky, failing to get a single bid.
Smith, who played IPL 2021 with Delhi, set his starting price at approximately $A370,000, but was quickly passed in after no franchise showed interest.
Australian teammate David Warner is headed to Delhi after being sold for $A1.16 million, a huge reduction on his $2.38 million price last year.
The aggressive opener struggled through the 2021 season with Hyderabad and was axed as captain midway through the tournament before he was dropped from the side altogether.
Coming off his heroics in the T20 World Cup final, Mitch Marsh also found himself a nice salary, joining Warner at Delhi for $A1.2 million.
But Australian teammate Matthew Wade went unsold, at the same starting price as Smith.
They could still be picked up by one of the ten teams when the auction resumes on Sunday.
India’s Shikhar Dhawan was the first player to go under the hammer, bought for $A1.53 million by the Punjab Kings.
New Zealand paceman Trent Boult also attracted some serious bidding, sold for $A1.48 million to the Rajasthan Royals.
Australian stars Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis had already earned their IPL millions before the auction; Maxwell was retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore after being bought for $A2.52 million at the 2021 auction, while Stoinis has penned a deal with new franchise Lucknow Super Giants.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Harsh.
Jo Park
Roar Rookie
What's Langer gonna do at the IPL, sit up the back and watch the assistant coach do the heavy lifting?
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
I guess they took into account that he was Man of the Series in the T20 World Cup.
Sedz
Guest
I know he struggled in the test series vs India after his return and it continued in IPL as well. But overall he has record numbers in IPL, if not for Warner and the Afghan willy bowler Rashid, his team SRH would have struggled to even compete in the years before. Interesting fact:- He has a huge fan base after Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit and ABD.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
Is the ipl auction more interesting than the ipl itself?
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
His form in the recent World Cup obviously considered more highly than last year’s IPL. He was close to man of the tournament
Sir Wally Wombat
Guest
Warner is not worth anywhere near that amount, especially given he was virtually sacked from his 2021 IPL team. Should Justin Langer be in line for a coaching job in the IPL, or are Indian players just as precious as Australian cricketers?