Pat Cummins, slotted as an overseas capped all-rounder at the 2024 IPL auction, had set his base price at INR 2 crore. Frantic bidding was expected, for Cummins had led Australia to two global titles in 2023: on both occasions India lost the finals.

You can follow the IPL 2024 auction live here.

Chennai Super Kings opened the bid, and Mumbai Indians provided a counter. Between them, they raised Cummins’ price to the 4.8-crore mark, when Royal Challengers Bangalore joined the fray.

Mumbai opted out, but Chennai kept the battle going until INR 7.8 crore. At this point, Sunrisers Hyderabad provided a counter-bid to Bangalore, and the two franchises kept bidding frantically as Cummins’ price soared through the list of most expensive buys in IPL history.

When he crossed INR 16.25 crore, he went past Chris Morris (Rajasthan Royals, 2021) and Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings, 2023). Then he overtook Cam Green’s INR 17.5 crore (Mumbai Indians, 2023, subsequently sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore).

Pat Cummins becomes the first player to breach the 20-crore mark in Indian Premier League history 💥#PatCummins #SRH #Cricket #IPL2024 #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/tIYFBCQi7d

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) December 19, 2023

Finally, he scaled the top spot by overtaking Sam Curran’s INR 18.5 crore (Punjab Kings, 2023). The two franchises did not stop until the 20-crore mark was breached, and it was not before INR 20.5 crore that Bangalore finally opted out.

It is worth a mention that Hyderabad had acquired Wanindu Hasaranga at his base price of INR 1.5 crore – arguably the ‘steal’ of the 2024 IPL auction until the point of writing.

From 42 IPL matches for Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals), Cummins has played taken 45 wickets at 30.16 apiece while conceding 8.54 an over. In his last season, in 2022, he went for 10.69, but had equalled the record for the fastest IPL fifty, off 14 balls (subsequently broken by Yashasvi Jaiswal).