Mitchell Starc and Travis Head might turn out to be the top buys in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction. The mini-acution is being held on December 19, Tuesday, at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai. A total of 332 players are set to go under the hammer, with 77 slots to be filled between 10 teams.
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Gujarat Titans go into the auction with the most amount of funds after trading Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians. They have Rs 38.15 crore in their purse. Lucknow Super Giants have least amount of budget at just a little over Rs 13 crore.
Speaking ahead of the auction, Punjab Kings coach Trevor Bayliss said that Mitchell Starc and Travis Head could be the biggest buys in the auction. Both players have done well in the recent times, especially Travis Head who earned player of the match awards in both the World Test Championship and World Cup 2023 final.
“My prediction for the top player might be someone like Travis Head or Mitchell Starc. Both have done well recently,” said Trevor Bayliss on an IPL video on Tuesday.
Newly appointed SunRisers Hyderabad coach Daniel Vettori however felt that India players will be in demand, especially Sharduk Thakur and Harshal, who have played for several years in the IPL and India setup.
“Harshal Patel and Shardul Thakur have obviously been exceptional players, both have played for India. Those players in particular will be hotly contested,” Vettori said in the same video.
A total of 77 slots will be filled in the 2024 auction. Mostly teams will be trying to fill in the gaps ahead of mega auction next season. However, teams like KKR and SRH will need to fill in key positions this season as well.
