Australian players have been in solid demand at the Indian Premier League and this was on show as soon as pacers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc decided to put their names in for the IPL Auction.
Here’s a list of all the Australian players who will take part in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
| Player Name | Team Name |
|---|---|
| Mitchell Starc | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Pat Cummins | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Spencer Johnson | Gujarat Titans |
| Travis Head | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Jhye Richardson | Delhi Capitals |
| Ashton Turner | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Mitch Marsh | Delhi Capitals |
| David Warner | Delhi Capitals |
| Matthew Wade | Gujarat Titans |
| Marcus Stoinis | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Tim David | Mumbai Indians |
| Jason Behrendorff | Mumbai Indians |
| Nathan Ellis | Punjab Kings |
| Adam Zampa | Rajasthan Royals |
| Cameron Green | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Glenn Maxwell | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League will see 16 representations from the Australian set-up. 10 of these players are from previous auctions, nine of whom were retained by their teams while one, Cameron Green got traded from Mumbai Indians to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The remaining six, including the speedsters Starc and Cummins, were bought at the auction.
David Warner has quit Test and ODI cricket, which means that he will have a lot more time to afford his franchise Delhi Capitals. The Capitals also have all-rounder and aggressive opening batter Mitchell March in their line-up whom they retained from the previous season.
Mumbai Indians opted to give up on Green as they looked to make money for the return of Hardik Pandya. At the same time, they retained hard-hitting middle-order batter Tim David and left-arm seamer Jason Behrendroff in their squad.
Speaking of hard-hitting all-rounders, another one who was retained was Marcus Stoinis, who will continue to turn up for Lucknow Super Giants.
Green joins Royal Challengers Bangalore who will also have the services of Glenn Maxwell this season. These two, with their strong hitting skills, will continue to make life difficult for the opposition bowlers on a flat Bangalore pitch.
Punjab Kings retained seam bowler Nathan Ellis while Adam Zampa will continue to turn out for Rajasthan Royals like the previous season. Gujarat Titans will have Matthew Wade in their set-up as they look to make it three finals in a row but it remains to be seen if he can make it to the line-up as one of the four overseas players.
Among those who were picked up in the auction this time were Starc and Cummins – two fast bowlers who played a pivotal role in Australia’s win at the 2023 World Cup. And with the IPL rules changed to include an extra bouncer per over this time, it was no surprise they were in so much demand.
Cummins was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping INR 20.5 crore to become the highest-paid IPL player in history. Only a few minutes later, that record was broken by Starc, who was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for a sum of INR 24.75 crore!
What was surprising was to see the in-form Travis Head get picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for just INR 4.75 crore, in what could be termed as a steal this IPL Auction. His aggressive opening style to go with his part-time off-spin bowling will go a long way in making him a player to watch this year.
Three other Aussie players made different teams via the auction route. Middle-order batter Ashton Turner was swooped up by Lucknow Super Giants, sharp fast bowler Jhye Richardson made it to the Delhi Capitals while Gujarat Titans brought in Spencer Johnson for a whopping sum of INR 10 crore despite his relative lack of experience.
Among those who went unsold was Steve Smith who did not find any takers at his base price of INR 2 crore. Even Josh Hazlewood failed to find a team, as did Josh Inglis, Ben Dwarshuis and Lance Morris.
