Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins became the most expensive players in Indian Premier League history Tuesday, with franchises dishing out millions of dollars for their services at the glitzy Twenty20 tournament.
Starc, who last played in the IPL eight years ago, made a smashing comeback when he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for 247.5 million rupees ($2.98 million), setting an all-time IPL auction record.
"We won, Mr Starc!" the franchise posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Starc, 33, broke the record set by Cummins earlier in the day when Sunrisers Hyderabad paid 205 million rupees ($2.47 million) for the World Cup-winning skipper.
Before Tuesday, England all-rounder Sam Curran was the most expensive player after being bought for $2.23 million last year by Punjab Kings.
"Pumped to be joining SRH for the upcoming IPL season," Cummins, who skipped this year's IPL because of a packed calendar, said in a video posted by the franchise on social media.
"I have played in Hyderabad a few times and always loved it so can't wait to get started."
Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in a fervent bidding session for Cummins, to claps and cheers from other franchises participating in the auction, held this year in Dubai.
Both Australians were key members of the team that led Australia to ODI World Cup victory in November, beating hosts India in the final at Ahmedabad.
Cummins had silenced a crowd of nearly 100,000 when he bowled out star batsman Virat Kohli, and was widely lauded for leading Australia to the title.
The 30-year-old made a previous auction record of $2.17 million when he signed with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019.
Both Starc and Cummins had entered this auction with a base price of $240,000, the top tier at which players can start the bidding for their services.
New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell was the third-top player at the auction, grabbed by Chennai Super Kings for $1.6 million.
Mitchell, 32, was also one of the breakout stars at the World Cup, scoring two centuries against India -- in the group stage and in the semi-final.
Mumbai Indians are the richest and most successful side in IPL history, with five titles to their name.
Attracting some of world cricket's top stars with bumper salaries, the pioneering IPL helped make Twenty20 hugely popular, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers and spawning copycat events worldwide.
This year, the BCCI staged its inaugural women's edition of the T20 tournament, earning nearly $700 million in combined franchise and media rights.
