Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that the Australian pace duo of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will get more than INR 14 crore in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Auction. The Australian pacers will be in high demand in the auction because of their ODI World Cup success in India.
Both Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc skipped the last season of IPL to prepare for the Ashes and World Cup. With the T20 World Cup coming up right after the cash-rich league, both have put their names in the pot in order to impress national selectors to be part of the team for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA.
Ravichandran Ashwin took to social media to make various auction predictions, including that both Starc and Cummins will command high prices following their victory in the Cricket World Cup 2023 on Indian soil. He also projected that in a legitimate bidding war for former Punjab Kings finisher Shahrukh Khan, who could fetch something between INR 10 and 14 crores.
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In the video, Ashwin further stated that he anticipates bids for New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra to be between INR 4 and 7 crores, while pacer Harshal Patel expects bids to be between INR 7 and 10 crores. South African pacer Gerald Coetzee was placed in the same category as Harshal and estimates Rovman Powell will receive INR 4 to 7 crores.
Ravichandran Ashwin made a surprising prediction that World Cup hero Travis Head will not get more than INR 4 crores as many teams have got their overseas opener spot filled. He expects veteran India fast bowler Umesh Yadav to fetch between INR 4 and 7 crores.
The players shortlisted for the forthcoming IPL auction 2024 were announced, with 333 players ready to go under the hammer. There are 214 Indians and 119 international players, who have put up their names for selection and the teams would be keen to fill up the holes in the forthcoming auction and get themselves get ready for the cash-rich league.
While on-field performance ultimately decides a franchise’s success or failure, getting the correct chess pieces in place before and during the auction is sometimes half the battle. The Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have been the finest teams in the event so far, both winning five championships.