File image of Australian cricket team Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc© AFP
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction threw up some crazy numbers as Australian duo Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins set new salary records. In the mini IPL auction, Starc went to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 while Pat Cummins went to SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore. Those two are the highest-ever salary purse for an individual player in IPL history. Never before in the IPL, has any player crossed Rs 20 crore mark. Royal Challengers Bangalore star Dinesh Karthik, who was retained by the side ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, pointed that foreign players and their agents cleverly use the mini auction to get paid some ‘absurd, unheard of prices’.
“I’m not a big fan of players coming straight into MINI auctions and I feel foreign players and their agents seem to use it cleverly because they see a loophole there. I feel BCCI can clamp down on this problem and I’ve given a couple of solutions in my recent video for @cricbuzz,” Karthik posted on X.
In the video he said: “Third trend is an unhealthy one. What I have noticed is the mini-auction is used by players and agents very cleverly, where they bring them in mini auction and they go for absurd and unheard of prices knowing that the teams come in with a lot of money and they have holes to fill. hence, the price skyrockets to a whole different level.
“Now, let’s take the example of Jasprit Bumrah. He is at 11 crore. Some of the bowlers who have come in the mini auction have gone for huge prices. Last year it was Cameron Green, Sam Curran. This year it is Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and it is no fault of theirs. They are just prioritising their country, their cricket, looking at their bodies. But also, it is a bit of tactic about how instead of coming to the main auction, they let that pass, and come in the mini auction that happens the next year. And they use the holes and go for some crazy price. Unhealthy trend should stop. Now BCCI can…”
Karthik also offered two solutions to the ‘unhealthy trend’. “Anybody coming into the mini-auction after they have released major auction can only go to the sealing of the price that went for in the major auction. So that, there is no bad blood and have been retained in that team. The second one, in case a player hasn’t been part of the major auction and comes to the mini auction can only go up to price of the highest paid player of that team. The rest of the money can be given to the BCCI. These are my suggestions,” he said.
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