Mitchell Starc vs Pat Cummins - which is the better signing in IPL 2024 auction?

Mitchell Starc shattered his Australian teammate Pat Cummins' record (₹20.50 crore) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, securing an astounding payday of ₹24.75 crore.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) successfully acquired Starc, six years after originally winning the bid for him, outlasting Gujarat Titans (GT). The bidding war began with Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) but both withdrew as the amounts surpassed the ₹10 crore-mark.

Just an hour earlier, Pat Cummins had set the all-time purchase record in the history of IPL when Sunrisers Hyderabad secured him for ₹20.5 crore, edging out Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Chennai Super Kings in a four-way contest.

At that price, Cummins surpassed Sam Curran as the most expensive IPL buy ever, who was bought for ₹18.5 crore by Punjab Kings in the previous year's auction.

Cummins had already held the title of the second most expensive Australian purchase behind Cameron Green in the previous year (₹17.5 crore) back when KKR had spent ₹15.5 crore in 2020 for his services.

Cummins will join World Cup final hero Travis Head at the Sunrisers, who are coached by Australia's assistant coach Daniel Vettori.

Mitchell Starc makes a return to the IPL

Mitchell Starc is now the highest paid IPL player

Mitchell Starc, making a return to the IPL in 2024 for the first time since 2015, opted not to enter the auction for the past five years. He was previously picked up in the 2014 auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore and played two seasons with that club before missing the 2016 tournament due to injury.

Cummins, who withdrew from this year's competition with Kolkata due to a heavy international workload, including an India Test tour, World Test Championship final, the Ashes, and the ODI World Cup, will also make his IPL return in 2024.

Pat Cummins, for all his record and impressive numbers in Test cricket, has not been able to set the stage alight in the IPL. He has picked up 45 wickets in 42 matches at an economy of more than 8.50.

Quite often, he has gone for plenty in the back end of the innings, but the SunRisers wanted a bowler who could offer plenty with the bat as well and Cummins showcased his batting credentials against MI with a cracking 50.

Mitchell Starc, on the other hand, makes a return to the IPL after a long time and KKR went all out for the Australia pace spearhead. In our opinion, Starc an edge over Pat Cummins is his ability to bowl across all stages of the innings.

He is perhaps one of the best all-rounders in white-ball cricket and KKR needed a bowler who could spark their campaign from the outset. At the same time, he is no slouch with the bat either and is a mean hitter lower down the order.

Both Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are champion players who have not managed to ace the IPL yet. KKR would be slightly happy with the acquisition of Starc considering his abilities with the new ball – and, well, that makes him a better pick than Pat Cummins, according to us.