New Delhi: The mini-auction for the IPL 2024 season, is now all done and dusted and all the teams are now stacked with their preferred players list. The auction became legendry in its own accords as it broke the barrier of the most expensive player in history, twice on the same day. Pat Cummins first broke the record with his 20.50 crore bid from SRH, followed by Mitchell Starc’s another record-shattering bid of 24.75 cr from KKR. That's a GRAND return to the IPL for Mitchell Starc 😎 DO NOT MISS the record-breaking bid of the left-arm pacer who will feature for @KKRiders 💜💪#IPLAuction | #IPL pic.twitter.com/D1A2wr2Ql3 — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 19, 2023 There were a number of overseas players who went for big bucks during the auction, but there were few who, to everyone’s surprise, went under the bar, turning out to be huge bargain buys for their teams. Let’s take a look at the top 5 overseas bargain buys for the franchises during the 2024 season auctions: 1] Wanindu Hasaranga (Sunrisers Hyderabad) The Sri Lankan all-rounder was part of the RCB squad in the 2023 season but was released by them ahead of the auctions. Hasaranga was expected to fetch at least a 5+ crore bid but was stolen by the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise for the base price of 1.5 crore, which, according to the experts, was a great buy for the Orange Army. 2] Rachin Ravindra (Chennai Super Kings) One franchise that knows how to make a good team, using the least amount of money, is the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. Super Kings has a habit of getting lucky during the auctions, and the trend continued in the 2024 season auction also, as they acquired the services of New Zealand’s star all-rounder and World Cup hero Rachin Ravindra for a huge bargain price of just 1.8 crore rupees. 3] Gerald Coetzee (Mumbai Indians) One of the most anticipated names during the auction was of the rising South African bowling all-rounder Gerald Coetzee, who was expected to easily go past a 10+ crore bid, but to everyone’s surprise, his services were acquired by the Mumbai Indians for a mere 5 crores, making him one of the best bargain buy of the 2024 IPL auction. 4] Azmatullah Omarzai (Gujarat Giants) The Afghani all-rounder was one of the main reasons behind Afghanistan’s dream run at the ICC World Cup 2023, where he proved that he can be helpful with both bat and ball for his team. He was an absolute steal for the Gujarat Titans side, who bought the Afghan all-rounder at his base price of 50 lakhs. 5] Shai Hope (Delhi Capitals) The West Indian ODI skipper, Shai Hope, has shown the kind of player he is over the years, with his lower middle order hard-hitting playing style. The West Indian can be a valuable addition to the DC squad, given the fact that they only spent Rs 75 lakhs on him.
