What a year it has been for Pat Cummins. Wins the World Test Championship, retains the Ashes, leads Australia to a sixth World Cup title and now becomes the second-costliest player in the history of IPL at a gobsmacking price. Sunrisers Hyderabad became the first team to breach the ₹20-crore margin and shelled out ₹20.5 crore to secure the services of the Australia captain. And why not? Everything he has touched has turned to gold, and having last won an IPL title seven years ago in 2023, SRH would look up to Cummins – most probably promote him as captain – to end their title jinx at IPL 2024.
Cummins, who broke the record set by England all-rounder Sam Curran last year at ₹18.5 crore, was clearly over the moon as he reacted to the news of him striking gold all the way from Australia to Dubai.
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"Pumped to be joining SRH for the upcoming IPL season. I've heard a lot about the Orange Army, have played in Hyderabad a few times. Can't wait to get started. Great to see another Aussies, Travis Head, over there as well. I think we're going to have a lot of fun this season and hopefully, plenty of success," Cummins said in a video shared by SRH on their official X handle.
Cummins drew a bidding war between SRH and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB, who hadn't raised the paddle much in the first set came out all guns blazing. Probably in need of a new captain – Faf du Plessis is 36 – and does not have too many seasons left in him. Placed at a base price of ₹2 crore. Cummins' stocks quickly raised as SRH and SRH outbid each other. The INR 10-crore-mark crossed in record time and Kavya Maran and Prathmesh Mishra went neck-and-neck for Cummins. The records set by Curran, Cameron Green and Ben Stokes last year, and by the likes of Chris Morris, Nicholas Pooran and Yuvraj Singh, was made a mockery of.
{{/usCountry}}Cummins drew a bidding war between SRH and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB, who hadn't raised the paddle much in the first set came out all guns blazing. Probably in need of a new captain – Faf du Plessis is 36 – and does not have too many seasons left in him. Placed at a base price of ₹2 crore. Cummins' stocks quickly raised as SRH and SRH outbid each other. The INR 10-crore-mark crossed in record time and Kavya Maran and Prathmesh Mishra went neck-and-neck for Cummins. The records set by Curran, Cameron Green and Ben Stokes last year, and by the likes of Chris Morris, Nicholas Pooran and Yuvraj Singh, was made a mockery of.
{{/usCountry}}Surprisingly enough, Cummins was also the costliest buy at IPL 2020 auction, successfully fetching ₹15.4 crore from Kolkata Knight Riders.