Dubai, Dec 19: Australia skipper Pat Cummins broke the roof as he became the costliest player in the history of the Indian Premier League as he was acquired Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 20.50 crore on Tuesday at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai.

With a base price of Rs 2 crore, Cummins attracted the attention of Mumbai Indians who entered the bidding war for the first time.

As the price continued to rise, MI backed while Royal Challengers Bangalore joined the bidding war against CSK. When it seemed RCB would walk away with the players SRH entered the battle, and a high-bidding war unfolded in the next moments.

As he touched the 20 crore mark, the entire arena cheered and applauded. RCB eventually gave up and SRH acquired the services of the Australian World Cup winning skipper for Rs 20.50 crore and Cummins became the most expensive player in the history of the IPL.

Earlier Sam Curran held the record with a price tag of Rs 18.50 crore. He was sold to Punjab Kings but now the World Cup and WTC winning captain has completely changed the dynamics.

He has taken 55 wickets in 50 T20Is for Australia, with the best figures of 3/15. His average of 16.90 while batting In 128 T20 games overall, including three fifties also makes him a useful lower-order batter.

Earlier, West Indies power hitter Rovman Powell went for a whopping sum, while Australia's destructive opener Travis Head found himself a new home in Sunrisers Hyderabad as a direct replacement for Harry Brook.

Powell, who set his base price at Rs 1 crore, received the opening bid from Kolkata Knight Riders. Rajasthan Royals jumped in and competed for Powell. Powell captained Barbados Royals in the CPL and ended up walking away with a whopping sum of Rs 7.4 crore.

Kolkata bid hard but Rajasthan edged past them to acquire the services of the batter. The WI T20I skipper has featured in 66 T20Is, scoring 1,202 runs at an average of 26.71 and a strike rate of above 143, with a century and five fifties.

Head, who produced remarkable performances in the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup final earlier this year, was one of the names with a hefty price tag. Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad were engaged in a fierce bidding battle. However, Head became a part of the Orange family for a price tag of 6.8 crore.

(ANI)

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