Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has become the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Starc was sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL Auction 2024 on Tuesday, December 19, held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. He started at a base price of Rs 2.00 crore, with Mumbai Indians initially vying for the player. Gujarat who had the maximum purse went the distance till 23 crores.
Before the auction, Gujarat Titans had the maximum money, of any team, left in their purse: INR 38.15 crore (USD 4.6 million approx.) and have to fill eight slots (two overseas). Lucknow Super Giants have the smallest available purse: INR 13.15 crore (USD 1.58 million approx.) with which to fill six slots (two overseas).
The franchises have a combined remaining purse of INR 262.95 crore (USD 31.58 million approx.) The English trio of Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jofra Archer have all withdrawn from the IPL this year to manage their workloads. There is no Kedar Jadhav in the pruned list, while Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan's names are also missing. No, the retention/release deadline is over. However, according to the IPL's rules, the player trading window starts a month after a season ends, and stays open up to a week before the auction date, and then continues up until a month before the start of the next season. Trading will be possible again from December 20, the day after the auction, for up to a month before the 2024 season begins.
