Australia's World Cup-winning skipper Pat Cummins became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history on 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 allrounder Sam Curran last year.
"History! Pat Cummins is a #Riser," tweeted Hyderabad after an intense bidding war with Royal Challengers Bangalore ended in their favour, to claps and cheers from spectators at the auction in Dubai.
The fast bowler had silenced a crowd of nearly 100 000 in the recent World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad when he bowled out star batsman Virat Kohli, and was widely lauded leading Australia to the title.
Cummins, 30, who made a previous auction record of $2.17 million when he signed with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019, had entered this auction with a base price of $240 000.
New Zealand allrounder 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 semifinal.
West Indies star Rovman Powell went to Rajasthan Royals for $890 000 and Travis Head of Australia will play for Hyderabad for $818 000.
But up-and-coming New Zealand allrounder Rachin Ravindra failed to arouse much interest, with Chennai paying an underwhelming $216 000 for his services.
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.