Australian Fast Bowler Patrick James Cummins is now the most expensive overseas signing in the IPL (Indian Premier League) history as he was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on 19th December 2019 (Thursday) for Rs. 15.5 crore in the IPL 2020 Auction help in Kolkata.
The signing amount is Rs. 1 crore more than what Rising Pune Supergiant spend on England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes in the 2017 IPL who was the previous holder of this title.
KKR leapt in with a bid at the INR 15 crore mark only when Royal Challengers Bangalore appeared to have won a prolonged bidding war with the Delhi Capitals.
It won’t be the first time that Cummins will be playing for KKR, he has played for the franchise in 2014-15. In IPL, Cummins has taken 17 wickets after playing a total of 16 games with an economy of 8.29, however in T20I, the 26 year old has an economy of 6.78.
Countryman Glenn Maxwell was also earned well in the IPL Auction 2020, the all-rounder was signed by Kings XI Punjab for a whopping Rs. 10.75 crore after a prolonged bid war with Delhi Capitals. Maxwell has played for Kings XI Punjab in the past, in 2014, as his best season of IPL, he with the team reached the finals of IPL. In 2018, Delhi Capitals signed Maxwell for Rs. 9 crore and then pushed the amount to re-sign him.
Just as it was predicted, IPL 2020 auction was all about the all-rounders. Chris Morris was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 crore, outbidding bot Mumbai Indians and KXIP to secure the South African all-rounder in their team. Delhi Capitals had retained Morris in 2018 for Rs. 11 crores and was released from the team after 2 average seasons. In the South African Mzansi Super League 2019, Morris bagged 10 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 8.2, and also scored 122 runs with a strike rate of 176.
Left Arm bowler Sheldon Cottrell was signed for 17 times his base price by KXIP for Rs. 8.5 crore (Base Price: Rs. 50 lakhs). Another left armer, Sam Curran was signed by Chennai Super Kings for Rs. 5.5 corer, Rs. 1.7 crore less than what he was auctioned for last season (Rs. 7.2 crore). CSK lost a bidding war to Mumbai Indians when the latter signed Nathan Coulter-Nile for Rs. 8.5 crore, but later CSK picked up Piyush Chawla for Rs. 6.75 crore – highest amount paid for Indian player in IPL 2020 auction.
Jayed Unadkat was amongst the most depreciated players, he was signed by Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 3 crore, whereas last year we was signed for Rs. 8.4 crore.
Eoin Morgan, and Aaron Finch both missed 2019 IPL season however this season both of them were signed. KKR has asked Mrogan to play for them again, and signed him for Rs. 5.25 crore, and Finch was signed by RCB and gave a signing fee of Rs. 4.4 crore. This will be the 8th team in IPL Finch will be playing for.
Shimron Hetmyer was released by RCB, and was signed by Delhi Capitals for Rs. 7.75 cores, Rs. 3.55 crore more than last year’s fees. However, RCB resigned South African fast bowler Dale Steyn at his base price of Rs. 2 crore.
Varun Chakravarth, who played just one IPL game last year for KXIP was signed for Rs. 8.4 crore, and this time was picked up by KKR for Rs. 4 crore, despite not having played a single T20 game since then.
Mumbai prodigy yound cricketer Yashasvi Jaiswal was picked by Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 2.4 crores and seamer Kartik Tyagi for Rs. 1.3 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad picked up Priyan Garg (India’s U19 Captain) and Virat Singh for Rs. 1.9 crore each.
Yusuf Pathan, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Hanuma Vihari are domestic players who were not signed by any team in IPL 2020 auction, and Colin Minro, Jason Holder, Keserick Williams, and Liam Plunkett were not signed as well amongst the overseas players.
Other notable signings:
Marcus Stoinis – DC – INR 4.8 cr
Kane Richardson – RCB – INR 4 cr
Robin Uthappa – RR – INR 3 cr
Alex Carey – DC – INR 2.4 cr
Jason Roy – DC – INR 1.5 cr
Fabian Allen – SRH – INR 50 lk
Isuru Udana – RCB – INR 50 lk
