Australia's World Cup-winning skipper Pat Cummins became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history Tuesday when Sunrisers Hyderabad paid 205 million rupees ($2.47 million) for his services.
The fast bowler, who skipped this year's IPL because of a packed calendar, surpassed the $2.23 million record set by England all-rounder Sam Curran last year.
"Pumped to be joining SRH for the upcoming IPL season," Cummins said in a video posted by the franchise on X, formerly Twitter.
"I have played in Hyderabad a few times and always loved it so can't wait to get started."
Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in a fervent bidding session, to claps and cheers from other franchises participating in the auction, held this year in Dubai.
The fast bowler had silenced a crowd of nearly 100,000 at the recent World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad when he bowled out star batsman Virat Kohli, and was widely lauded for leading Australia to the title.
Cummins, 30, made a previous auction record of $2.17 million when he signed with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019.
He had entered this auction with a base price of $240,000, the top tier at which players can start the bidding for their services.
New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell was the second-top player at the auction so far, grabbed by Chennai Super Kings for $1.6 million.
Mitchell, 32, was also one of the breakout stars at the World Cup, scoring two centuries against India -- in the group stage and in the semi-final.
- Bumper salaries -
West Indies star Rovman Powell went to Rajasthan Royals for $890,000 and Travis Head of Australia will play alongside Cummins for Hyderabad after being sold for $818,000.
South African paceman Gerald Coetzee was sold to Mumbai Indians for $602,000.
But up-and-coming New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra failed to arouse much interest, with Chennai paying an underwhelming $216,000 for his services.
Former Australia skipper Steve Smith went unsold in the first round, along with fellow wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.
More than 300 players were up for grabs at Tuesday's auction for the glitzy T20 tournament, likely to be held from March next year.
The IPL is a huge earner for Indian cricket and the tournament makes more than $11 billion for the economy each year, according to pre-pandemic estimates.
Last June, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sold the broadcast rights for the next five IPL seasons to global media giants for an eye-watering $6.2 billion.
Mumbai Indians are the richest and most successful side in IPL history, with five titles to their name.
Attracting some of world cricket's top stars with bumper salaries, the pioneering IPL helped make Twenty20 hugely popular, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers and spawning copycat events worldwide.
This year, the BCCI staged its inaugural women's edition of the T20 tournament, earning nearly $700 million in combined franchise and media rights.
