CUP HEROES IN DEMAND FOR $100M AUCTION
MITCHELL Marsh and David Warner could become part of an unprecedented seven-figure bidding war at the IPL’s $100m “mega auction” on Saturday.
Australia’s World Cup heroes are tipped to be hot property as the IPL expands from eight to 10 teams and more marquee places are up for grabs than ever before.
It’s understood IPL franchises have checked in with their contacts in Australia about Marsh – man-of-thematch in the World Cup final and the title-winning star for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash.
After being let go by his long-term home Hyderabad Sunrisers, Warner – player of the World Cup – is a free agent and alongside Pat Cummins is only one of 10 marquee stars up for grabs to kick off the auction.
Cummins went for $3.17m at the last IPL auction in 2020 as the most expensive overseas player ever, and more records were expected to be broken this weekend in Bangalore.
Glenn Maxwell (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Marcus Stoinis (new franchise, Lucknow Supergiants) were the only two Australians retained already, leaving 47 Aussies in the auction.
Only a precious few would find homes, but Australian interim coach and long-time IPL coach Andrew McDonald expected franchises would be attracted to the stars they watched take out the World Cup.
“That will stick in people’s minds around that team performing so well. Guys like Mitch Marsh, David Warner and Matthew Wade and Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins,” McDonald said.
“It will be fascinating to watch. “It’s great to see Australian players at times headlining the IPL’s big contracts, it’s a great opportunity for them and they deserve what they get… I’d like to think we’d have a fair contingent there and that it will be a reward for the team’s success from the World Cup.”
Following Cummins and Warner, Australia’s next bracket of players commanding a base salary of $377,000 included Steve Smith, Marsh, Wade, Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Ashton Agar.
But there’s some real value further down the list for IPL teams with Marnus Labuschagne and Moises Henriques coming in at a base price of $189,000, Sean Abbott at $142,000 and Ben McDermott at $94,000.
Sydney Sixers’ breakout BBL star Hayden Kerr might be a longshot but a team could take a punt on him for as little as $38,000.
The addition of two new teams has turned the IPL into an even more powerful juggernaut than it was before, but McDonald said Australian cricket shouldn’t be afraid of more players getting opportunities in the world’s premier T20 competition.
“There’s a hell of a lot of cricket coming up,” McDonald said.