Australia skipper Pat Cummins broke the
roof as he became the costliest player in the history of the Indian Premier
League as he was acquired Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 20.50 crore at the
Coca Cola Arena in Dubai.
With a base price of Rs 2 crore, Cummins
attracted the attention of Mumbai Indians who entered the bidding war for the
first time. As the price continued to rise, MI backed while Royal Challengers
Bangalore joined the bidding war against CSK.
When it seemed RCB would walk away with
the players SRH entered the battle, and a high-bidding war unfolded in the next
moments.
As he touched the 20 crore mark, the
entire arena cheered and applauded. RCB eventually gave up and SRH acquired the
services of the Australian World Cup winning skipper for Rs 20.50 crore and
Cummins became the most expensive player in the history of the IPL.
Earlier Sam Curran held the record with
a price tag of Rs 18.50 crore. He was sold to Punjab Kings but now the World
Cup and WTC winning captain has completely changed the dynamics.
Earlier, West Indies power hitter Rovman
Powell went for a whopping sum, while Australia’s destructive opener Travis
Head found himself a new home in Sunrisers Hyderabad as a direct replacement
for Harry Brook.
Powell, who set his base price at Rs 1
crore, received the opening bid from Kolkata Knight Riders. Rajasthan Royals
jumped in and competed for Powell. Powell captained Barbados Royals in the CPL
and ended up walking away with a whopping sum of Rs 7.4 crore.
Kolkata bid hard but Rajasthan edged
past them to acquire the services of the batter. The WI T20I skipper has
featured in 66 T20Is, scoring 1,202 runs at an average of 26.71 and a strike
rate of above 143, with a century and five fifties.
Head, who produced remarkable
performances in the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup final
earlier this year, was one of the names with a hefty price tag.
Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers
Hyderabad were engaged in a fierce bidding battle. However, Head became a part
of the Orange family for a price tag of 6.8 crore.
ANI
