IPL Auction 2024: Australia’s World Cup stars on radar of IPL franchises

Having proved their class while clinching the 2023 ODI World Cup in India in November, Australia’s famed pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and explosive opener Travis Head, who smashed a 120-ball 137 in the final against India, are likely to make the mega-bucks when some of the world’s top players go under the hammer in Dubai on Tuesday in the IPL 2024 auction.
IPL AUCTION: LIVE UPDATES
In a communication to the 10 IPL franchises on Monday, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said that Cricket Australia had assured the participation of all their players for the high-profile T20 league, with only those players who wanted to play in the Sheffield Shield final (from March 21-25) being unavailable for a few days.Looking to remain fresh for the World Test Championship final, the Ashes and the World Cup, Cummins, who played for the Kolkata Knight Riders earlier, skipped this year’s IPL. He led Australia to World Cup glory and the fast bowler was widely lauded for his fine captaincy.

The fact that he has leadership skills will make Cummins (base price Rs 2 crore) an attractive package for all the franchises.
Watch out for Ravindra, Coetzee too

Expect the breakout young allround stars of the World Cup, New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra (base price Rs 50 lakh), South African quick Gerald Coetzee (base price Rs 2 crore), and Sri Lankan left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka to be amongst the costliest buys of the World Cup.
Ravindra was named by his father after India’s cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. The 24-year-old scored 578 runs at a strike rate of 106 — a record for the most runs by a debutant in a single edition of a World Cup — in a tally which included centuries against England, Australia andPakistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He also took five wickets with his left-arm spin.
The fact that he has his origins in India adds to his allure, more so for Royal Challengers Bangalore, as the youngsters family belongs to the city.

Coetzee finished the World Cup with 20 wickets at an average of 19.80. Since his debut early this year in a Test against West Indies at Centurion, the 23-year-old has become a frontline player for the Proteas in almost every format.
Overall, 333 players, 199 of them overseas, will be available to be sold. An interesting sight at the auction could be India’s ’keeper-bat Rishabh Pant — currently recovering from an injury due to an accident — sitting at the Delhi Capitals table.
Among the Englishmen, exciting batsman Harry Brook (base price Rs 2 cr) could fetch a good price. However, barring a century, the 24-year-old had an ordinary IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad last year, who released him after snapping him up for Rs 13.25 cr in the previous auction. Besides, Brook managed to score just 169 runs in six World Cup matches.
Also expect leg-spinning allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga (base price Rs 1.5 crores) — Sri Lanka’s go-to bowler in whiteball formats — to rake in a good sum at the auction. The allrounder was rather surprisingly released by the RCB, who had bought him in 2022. The 26-year-old has claimed 216 wickets in 157 T20s, with an average of 16.99, and an economy rate of 6.81.
It will be interesting to see how the Gujarat Titans, having just traded their previous captain, India allrounder Hardik Pandya to the Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal, go about finding an allrounder who can provide the balance to their side. Having an additional Rs 15 crore in their purse post the trade-overall (Rs 38.15 crore), GT will have a deep pocket to spend from.

—Thakur could be top Indian buy
Among the Indian players, allrounder Shardul Thakur (base price Rs 2 cr), who was released by KKR, should be much in demand. A seasoned campaigner, Thakur was earlier with CSK.
Another Indian seamer in demand could be medium-pacer Harshal Patel (base price Rs 2 cr).