By Tom Decent
Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will earn more money bowling two balls in India next year playing franchise cricket than for five days of hard work in a baggy green.
Cummins’ golden year continued on Tuesday night, with the Australian captain snaring an eye-watering $3.67 million contract (20.5 crore) to play with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in next year’s Indian Premier League.
Made official at 7.45pm AEDT, during the IPL’s “mini” auction in Dubai, it was the most expensive contract in IPL history – a record that lasted just 91 minutes before another Australian star recorded an even more stunning pay day.
Cummins’ great mate and Australian teammate Mitchell Starc smashed his skipper’s contract record by almost a million dollars less than two hours later.
Starc’s fresh deal with the Kolkata Knight Riders is worth a whopping $4.43 million (24.75 crore) and was the talk of the cricket world on Tuesday evening.
It has been eight years since Starc bowled a ball in the IPL, having instead prioritised international cricket.
Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.Credit: Getty
In 2018, Starc signed for $1.8m with Kolkata but didn’t play a game due to injury.
The Knight Riders have gone all out for Starc and will certainly hope he is ready to feature in all 14 of their regular season matches.
If Starc played in each of those games – and Kolkata didn’t make finals – the left-armer would pocket a stunning $316,429 per match.
While Starc is a handy lower order batsman, he’s ultimately being paid the big bucks for his potent inswingers.
Howzat for a contract: Mitchell Starc.Credit: Getty
If Starc bowled the full allotment of four overs every game, he would take home $13,184 for every legal delivery that came out of his left hand.
That’s $79,107 for every over in the IPL. Many Australians wouldn’t earn that in a year.
For context, Starc and his Australian teammates receive about $15,000 for Test match payments.
While dates haven’t been confirmed for next year’s IPL, the tournament will reportedly run from March 23 to May 29.
If it is indeed a 67-day window, Starc will make $66,119 for every 24-hour block during the tournament.
He’ll earn $2755 per hour throughout the 10 weeks.
Starc’s decision to not play in the IPL for the past eight seasons has certainly whet the appetite of franchises who have been desperate to have him on their roster.
Playing hard to get has paid off in the most handsome way possible for the 33-year-old, who is showing no signs of slowing down.
Up for grabs: World Cup winning captain Pat Cummins is ready to return to India, this time to take part in the Indian Premier League.Credit: AP
It is a similar story for Cummins, who announced in November last year he would skip the 2023 IPL tournament in a bid to prioritise his international commitments.
There was no shortage of interest this time around, with Cummins earning a slight increase on the $3.16 million he pocketed at the 2020 auction.
Cummins will earn approximately $262,000 for each game and $10,900 every time he sends down a delivery.
A breathtaking 14-ball half century in the 2022 tournament would have also increased added to the value of Cummins’ new deal.
Go woke, go broke? Cummins has had the last laugh over his critics. It has been some year for the Australian captain, after a World Test Championship victory, retaining the Ashes and winning the ODI World Cup.
Australians sold at the IPL Auction
- Travis Head - $1.22m to Sunrisers Hyderabad
- Pat Cummins - $3.67m to Sunrisers Hyderabad
- Mitchell Starc - $4.43m to Kolkata Knight Riders
- Spencer Johnson - $1.78 million to Gujarat Titans
- Jhye Richardson - $892,000 to Delhi Capitals
- Ashton Turner - $178,000 to Lucknow Super Giants
Two other new Aussie millionaires are Travis Head, who was also snapped up by the Sunrisers on a contract worth 6.8 crore ($1.22 million) and Brisbane Heat paceman Spencer Johnson, who joined the Gujarat Titans for 10 crore ($1.78 million).
While Head was expected to earn a hefty contract after his performances in Australia’s World Cup win in India, it’s a remarkable rise for 28-year-old Johnson who only made his T20 debut with the Heat in January this year and has just two T20 international appearances to his name.
Perth Scorchers quick Jhye Richardson joined the Delhi Capitals for $892,000 while big-hitting Ashton Turner earned a $178,000 deal with the Lucknow Super Giants.
Express: Left-arm Brisbane Heat quick Spencer Johnson.Credit: Getty Images
Australians Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Daniel Sams, Ashton Agar, Riley Meredith, Lance Morris, Billy Stanlake, Wes Agar, Ben Cutting, Ben Dwarshuis, Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk and William Salzmann all nominated for the auction but went unsold.
Head and Cummins probably owe Australian assistant and Sunrisers head coach Daniel Vettori a couple of beers when they get together next.
David Warner, who plays for the Delhi Capitals, tried to congratulate Cummins and Head by sharing an Instagram post from the Sunrisers, his former team. Warner then realised he’d been blocked on multiple social media platforms by Head and Cummins’ new team.
The fickle nature of IPL auctions was on full display when Hazlewood’s name was mentioned straight after Starc’s extraordinary contract had been confirmed.
Starc’s opening bowling partner went unsold, despite bagging 20 wickets and finishing sixth on the leading wicket-takers list at last year’s tournament.
However, Hazlewood would have been likely to miss the latter stages of the tournament due to the birth of his first child.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.