Wow, the IPL 2024 mini-auction in Dubai was crazy! Some huge numbers were thrown around. The Australian players who just won the World Cup really cashed in, getting the biggest contracts ever in the IPL.
Mitchell Starc was the most in-demand player, returning to the league after eight years away. He became the most expensive player in IPL history, signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders for almost $3 million! That beat out his captain Pat Cummins, who had previously set the record at 200 million rupees.
With only a few players available and teams having lots of money to spend, some guys got way more than they normally would have. All the top expensive players now are from other countries. Let’s take a look at who cost the most.
Even though it was a mini-auction, the IPL 2024 auction broke tons of records with how much teams spent to get star players. Mitchell Starc became the most expensive ever when KKR paid Rs 24.75 crore for the left-arm quick. His teammate Pat Cummins was earlier sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore.
Starc last played in 2015 and helped Australia win the 2023 World Cup. He has 73 T20I wickets. Before him, Sam Curran held the record at Rs 18.50 crore to Punjab Kings.
Aside from the Aussies Starc and Cummins, New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell and West Indies’ Rovman Powell also made big money. Mitchell went to CSK for Rs 14 crore, third highest. Powell was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 7.40 crore. Australia’s Travis Head joined Cummins at Hyderabad for Rs 6.8 crore. West Indies’ Alzarri Joseph went to RCB for Rs 11.50 crore.
New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra, a World Cup star, didn’t get much interest and went to CSK for just Rs 1.8 crore. Australian pacer Spencer Johnson stood out after Gujarat Titans spent Rs 10 crore on him.
Among Indians, pacer Harshal Patel was sold to Punjab Kings for Rs 11.75 crore. Young Indians like Shubham Dubey and Shivam Mavi also made bank.
Highest-paid cricketers of IPL 2024
- Mitchell Starc (Kolkata Knight Riders): 247.5 million rupees ($2.98m)
- Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad): 205m rupees ($2.46m)
- Sam Curran (Punjab Kings): 185 million rupees ($2.22m)
- Cameron Green (Royal Challengers Bangalore): 175m rupees ($2.1m)
- KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants): 170m rupees ($2m)
- Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants): 160m rupees ($1.92m)
- Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings): 160m rupees ($1.92m)
- Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals): 160m rupees ($1.92m)
- Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders): 160m rupees ($1.92m)
- Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians): 160m rupees ($1.92m)
- Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians): 152.5m rupees ($1.83m)
- Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians): 150m rupees ($1.8m)
- Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans): 150m rupees ($1.8m)
- Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore): 150m rupees ($1.8m)
- Daryl Mitchell (Chennai Super Kings): 140m rupees ($1.68m)
- Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals): 140m rupees ($1.68m)
- Deepak Chahar (Chennai Super Kings): 140m rupees ($1.68m)
- Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders): 122.5m rupees ($1.47m)
- Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians): 120m rupees ($1.44m)
- MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings): 120m rupees ($1.44m)