Australia skipper Pat Cummins attracted a bid of over INR 20 Cr was the highlight of the IPL 2024 Auction, where no one expected him to get a price that high. Not just the fans, but the experts, in fact, the team management were left surprised over the move. SRH, the buyers, were more than happy to have him in their ranks though.
SRH’s head coach told Star Sports after the purchase, “Someone else desperately wanted him as well, that’s why he got pushed to that high number. Because our team is relatively settled we have the budget, and we have already picked up Travis Head and Hasaranga, we felt like we’d covered most things that we wanted at the auction, so we had the ability to spend that much.”
What Other Experts Feel
Eoin Morgan, an IPL expert with JioCinema said that this bid came at the back of his brilliant last couple of years as a leader and a bowler. “The player that Pat Cummins is and considering the last year-and-a-half that he has had, both with leadership and as a bowler with the World Test Championship winning side, retaining the Ashes in England during the English summer and then leading the Australian ODI team to another ODI World Cup. So, recent form and confidence is a huge contributing factor.
“It’s also a demand-supply issue. There are quite a few teams looking for leadership roles to be fulfilled not only as captain but also in the changing room. So Pat Cummins thoroughly justifies his price tag.”
On the other hand, former India coach Anil Kumble told JioCinema that this price wasn’t expected for Cummins. “That’s a really high price. Rs 20 crores wasn’t expected. We knew he’d go for a higher price but Rs 20 crore, it’s created a record. SRH is perhaps looking for a captain and that could be the reason why we see the desperation to get in. Perhaps RCB were also looking at a long-term captain. Good luck to Pat Cummins. Three trophies, but this would probably take the icing on the cake.”
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