IPL auction 2024: Mitch Starc rakes in over $4.4 million but Spencer Johnson is night’s big surprise

It was a huge night for a few Aussies at the IPL auction, and while Mitch Starc made history with a record-making price, the biggest surprise came Spencer Johnson’s way.

Pat Cummins was briefly the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history before being outdone by Mitchell Starc as Australia’s pace veterans yielded more than $8 million at Tuesday night’s mini-auction in Dubai.

But there was no love for Steve Smith, with the former Aussie captain going unsold. The same fate befell Australia’s World Cup-winning wicketkeeper Josh Inglis. The third member of the pace cartel, Josh Hazlewood, also missed out.

There was better news for express quick Spencer Johnson, with the two-capped T20I bowler snaring a suprise $1.78m from the Gujarat Titans.

Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori helped secure Australian captain Cummins and fellow World Cup hero Travis Head major paydays.

Cummins was the subject of an extraordinary tussle between the Vettori-coached Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Mumbai Indians.

Vettori eventually got his man for an eye-watering 20.5 crore rupees ($3.667m AUD).

Head was also stuck in the middle of an arm wrestle between Hyderabad and the Super Kings.

Travis Head took home over $1 million at the auction. Picture: Getty Images

After a nip and tuck lasting several minutes, Head went to Hyderabad for 6.8 crore rupees ($1.216m AUD).

But it was Starc, returning to the league for the first time since 2015, who made the largest ripples later in the auction as the Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders duked it out for his services, with the left-arm speedster eventually heading to Kolkata for 24.75 crore ($4.428m AUD).

Mitchell Starc has gone large at the IPL auction. Picture: Getty Images

Restricted by a tight salary cap, Justin Langer’s Lucknow Super Giants were blasted out of contention for Cummins and Starc.

Josh Hazelwood did not attract a bit, a largely expected outcome given he will miss much of the tournament because of the birth of his first child.

Head exploded into major IPL relevance on the back of an outstanding World Cup in which he returned from a broken hand to blitz New Zealand in Dharamsala before producing player-of-the-match earning performances in the semi-final win over South Africa and the final over India in which his century hauled Australia to its sixth world title.

Pat Cummins has finished a brilliant year on a massive high. Picture: Getty Images

West Indian batter Rovman Powell was the first player to go under the hammer, sold to the Rajasthan Royals for 7.4 crore ($1.324m AUD), while Ricky Ponting’s Delhi Capitals purchased Harry Brook for four crore ($716,000).

Big-hitting Black Caps all-rounder Daryl Mitchell was sold to Chennai for 14 crore.

South Africa’s Rilee Rousouw was passed in, as were Indians Karun Nair and Manish Pandey.

The Sunrisers also picked up Sri Lankan spinning all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga for 1.5 crore, while the Super Kings landed New Zealand World Cup phenomenon for 1.8 crore.

Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur was sold for four crore to Chennai.

Despite having Vettori, Ponting and former Australian coach Langer all in positions of influence, Smith did not attract a single bid, as occurred when he was up for grabs two years ago.

Head was last week elevated to the role of co-vice-captain in the Australian Test side, sitting alongside Smith and beneath Cummins after a stellar 2023 in which he was also player of the match in the World Test Championship final.

Originally published as IPL auction 2024: Mitch Starc rakes in over $4.4 million but Spencer Johnson is night’s big surprise