Australia pacer Pat Cummins became the costliest buy of IPL history as Sunrisers Hyderabad bagged the ODI World Cup-winning captain for the monumental price of Rs 20.50 crore in the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai on Tuesday.
SRH and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fought fiercely to acquire the speedster in their squad as all the previous records were shattered in the process. He surpassed Sam Curran to become the most expensive player in IPL history. Curran was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.50 crore in IPL 2023 auction last year.
Former England and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan backed Cummins' price tag and said his recent success in the international circuit makes him worth the money.
Cummins had led Australia to the World Test Championships, helping them to retain Ashes in England before the pinnacle quadrennial trophy in India last month. He is currently leading Australia in the three-match Test series against Pakistan in Down Under.
"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," Morgan told JioCinema.
"So, recent form and confidence is a huge contributing factors. 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," he added.
In the ongoing IPL auction at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, Sunrisers Hyderabad also bagged the services of Travis Head (Rs 6.8 crore) and Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs 1.5 crore) in the bidding event so far.