Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has given his insight into why Australia speedster Pat Cummins went for such a huge price in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. Cummins started a fierce bidding war between franchises on Thursday and he was eventually picked up two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders for the 13th edition of the league. Ganguly feels Cummins was in high demand in the ‘small’ auction and that is why his eventual price went up spectacularly.
“No, I don’t think (Cummins’ price being high). It has a lot to do with the demand. Especially these small auctions bringing players in go after go. Ben Stokes became a part of this small auction and that’s why his value went off the roof of 14crore,” Ganguly said on the sidelines of an event in Kolkata.
Cummins became the most expensive overseas player in the history of IPL auctions after he was sold for Rs 15.5 crore to KKR. The Aussie speedster attracted a bidding war between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals. But after the price went up to Rs 14 crore, KKR intervened and stole the player.
Cummins surpassed Ben Stokes’ record to become the most expensive overseas buy. The England all-rounder was previously sold to Rising Pune Supergiant at IPL auctions 2017 at Rs 14.5 crore.
Cummins is the second costliest player among all players in the history of IPL auctions, with only Yuvraj Singh being costlier than him. Yuvraj was bought by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) for Rs 16 crore.
Another Aussie went for big money as Glenn Maxwell was picked up for 10.75 crore by Kings XI Punjab, a franchise Maxwell has represented earlier. Maxwell has returned to competitive cricket recently after taking a break due to mental health issues. Maxwell had a base price of 2 crore.
Leave a Reply