IPL Auction: Aussies, big-money deals

Pace trio Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Mitchell Johnson led the way for Australia with three sizeable deals but when all was said and done it was a couple of Englishmen who spectacularly stole the show at the 2017 Indian Premier League auction.

On a day that has quickly established itself as the most lucrative on the cricket calendar, England allrounder and new vice-captain Ben Stokes and unheralded speedster Tymal Mills each found themselves in bidding wars, with quite incredible results.

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Stokes was picked up by Rising Pune Supergiants for the highest figure of the day – a staggering AUD $2.8m for the seven-week tournament.

The 25-year-old will play under Steven Smith and alongside four other Australians – Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Adam Zampa and new signing Dan Christian – at the franchise, which is in just its second year and has been put on notice by its owner after finishing second-last in 2016 that another failure won't be tolerated.

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Mills, who played twice for Brisbane Heat in this summer's KFC BBL, was the shock overseas signing of the day, the left-arm quick ultimately picked up for $2.3m, where he'll line up alongside the likes of superstars Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, as well as Aussie pair Shane Watson and Travis Head.

Cummins meanwhile, didn't play IPL last year but has completed a full season of limited-overs cricket in Australia, was a sought-after commodity, eventually joining Delhi Daredevils for $875k.

His former national teammate Johnson – a star of BBL|06 – went to Mumbai Indians for his base price of $390k - some $950k short of his 2016 deal with Kings XI Punjab. 

It was a different story for Coulter-Nile, who has endured a frustrating season sidelined by injury and was forced to wait a little longer after he went unsold in the initial round of bidding.

It wasn't until the second stage that Kolkata Knight Riders – with Coulter-Nile's ex-Perth Scorchers teammate Simon Katich sitting at the bidding table – showed interest, ultimately paying $680,000 for the fast-bowling allrounder.

The accelerated round also paid dividends for Hobart Hurricanes allrounder Christian, who joins the strong Australian contingent at Pune for $194k, Adelaide Strikers paceman Billy Stanlake ($58k), who could go some way to filling Mitchell Starc's shoes at Royal Challengers Bangalore, and fellow Strikers paceman Ben Laughlin, who joined Sunrisers Hyderabad for $58k. 

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The pace theme continued among the overseas signings, with New Zealand's Trent Boult (Kolkata Knight Riders for $970k), South Africa's Kagiso Rabada (Delhi Daredevils for $970k) and England's Chris Woakes (Kolkata for $816k) all picking up huge deals.

Along with Mills however, the big surprise of the day belonged to 18-year-old Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who is set to join David Warner's Sunrisers Hyderabad for the hefty price tag of $778k.

Rashid was beaten by compatriot Mohammad Nabi for the honour of becoming the first Afghan to earn an IPL contract, with Nabi also picked up by Hyderabad for $58k in an historic moment for the tournament.

Two players who look to have benefited from recent outings against Australia are Indian allrounder Krishnappa Gowtham, who blasted a quick-fire 74 against the Australians in Mumbai yesterday, and Sri Lankan hero Asela Gunaratne, who smashed an unbeaten 84 to seal a miraculous win in the second T20I in Geelong on Sunday night.

The previously little-known Gowtham was picked up by Mumbai for $390k, who also nabbed Gunaratne for a relatively modest $58k.

How the Aussies fared (figures in AUD)

Pat Cummins: $875k to Delhi Daredevils

Nathan Coulter-Nile: $680k to Kolkata Knight Riders 

Mitchell Johnson: $390k to Mumbai Indians

Dan Christian: $194k to Rising Pune Supergiants

Billy Stanlake: $58k to Royal Challengers Bangalore

Ben Laughlin: $58k to Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sean Abbott: Unsold

Ben Dunk: Unsold

Brad Hogg: Unsold

Mitchell Swepson: Unsold

Michael Klinger: Unsold

Nic Maddinson: Unsold

Brad Haddin: Unsold

Fawad Ahmed: Unsold

Nathan Lyon: Unsold

Michael Beer: Unsold

The big-money and notable signings (figures in AUD)

Delhi Daredevils

Kagiso Rabada $970k, Pat Cummins $875k, Angelo Mathews $390k, Corey Anderson $194k, M. Ashwin $194k

Gujarat Lions

Jason Roy $194k, Basil Thampy $165k, Manpreet Gony $116k, Nathu Singh $97k

Kings XI Punjab

T Natarajan $583k, Varun Aaron $544k, Eoin Morgan $390k, Matt Henry $97k, Martin Guptill $97k, Darren Sammy $58k

Kolkata Knight Riders

Trent Boult $970k, Chris Woakes $816,000, Nathan Coulter-Nile $680k, Rishi Dhawan $107k, Darren Bravo $97k

Mumbai Indians

Karn Sharma $620k, Krishnappa Gowtham $390k, Mitchell Johnson $390k, Asela Gunaratne $58k

Rising Pune Supergiants

Ben Stokes $2.8m, Dan Christian $194k, Manoj Tiwary $97k, Lockie Ferguson $97k

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Tymal Mills $2.3m, Aniket Choudhary $388k, Pawan Negi $194k, Billy Stanlake $58k

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Rashid Khan $777k, Mohammed Siraj $506k, Eklavya Dwivedi $145k, Chris Jordan $97k, Mohammad Nabi $58k, Ben Laughlin $58k