Australian pacer Mitchell Starc became most expensive IPL player

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for £2.47 million at the auction in Dubai on Tuesday. Starc has now left behind his skipper Pat Cummins, who was earlier the most expensive player in IPL history with £2.05 million and was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The pacer started an insane bidding war that lasted for minutes, with Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) locking horns first. Once they backed out, Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went ahead with an even bigger bidding war, crossing the £2.05 million spent by SRH on Cummins. Eventually, GT backed out and KKR got Starc for a record-breaking prize. Spencer Johnson goes to Gujarat Titans for £1 million. Uncapped Indian batter Sameer Rizwi was sold to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for £840,000 while another uncapped batter Shubham Dubey was sold to Rajasthan Royals (RR). For Dubey, there was a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals and he was bought by one-time champions eventually.
Punjab Kings grabbed the Indian pacer Harshal Patel for £1.17 million. Patel became the second richest player in the auction. The Indian speedster had a base price of £200,000. Harshal took part in the T20 tournament with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He has played 92 matches in his IPL career, and scalped 111 wickets.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians (MI) took South African pacer Gerald Coetzee for £500,000. Coetzee had a base price of £200,000. Kiwi batting all-rounder Daryl Mitchell became the third millionaire after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took him for £1.4 million.