It has been close to a week now since the IPL 2024 auction culminated in Dubai, but still the purchases of Aussie bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in the news. While many predicted that the duo would fetch a big sum, no one would have ever thought that they’d go beyond INR 20 Cr each. But that’s how it is now.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has spoken a few times about both the buys, and in a fresh video on his YouTube channel, he spoke about how RCB dodged a bouncer, and couldn’t bag Cummins. The team had only a purse of INR 23.25 Cr, while entering the IPL 2024 Auction.
“They had totally made up their mind that they wanted Pat Cummins at any cost and they kept going after him, kept lifting the paddle. It went till 20 crores and I folded my hands and said – ‘think a little’. If you had got Pat Cummins for 20 crores and you had 23.25 crores, would Pat Cummins have bowled from both ends?”
Chopra futher said that, Cummins’ inclusion in RCB would have only weakened their attack. “If they had bought Pat Cummins, if SRH had pulled out at that stage, and they would have got him for 20 crores, their team would have become extremely weak. When you released so many players and if you had picked Pat Cummins on a small Chinnaswamy ground with a flat pitch, you would have been hit a lot.”
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“So send Merry Christmas and Happy New Year cards to Hyderabad because they saved you. They just went all out and you got saved. It was very interesting that they wanted Pat Cummins but didn’t bid for Gerald Coetzee and Mitchell Starc.”
Eventually, after releasing the likes of Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasranga, RCB bagged West Indian Alzarri Joseph for INR 11.50 Cr. They bagged Yash Dayal for 5 Cr, Tom Curran (1.5 Cr) and Lockie Ferguson (2 Cr).
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