IPL auction: Mitchell Starc lands record £2.35m contract

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins celebrated their Cricket World Cup triumph with Australia by becoming the most expensive players ever sold at the Indian Premier League auction.

The record was held by the England all-rounder Sam Curran, who landed a £1.85 million contract at Punjab Kings last year, but Cummins surpassed that when Sunrisers Hyderabad went to £1.95 million to secure the Australia captain.

Starc, his team-mate and fellow fast bowler, then smashed the record: he will play for Kolkata Knight Riders in the spring on a contract worth £2.35 million. Australians are now responsible for three of the five most lucrative deals in the competition’s history, with Englishmen earning the other two.

Starc, 33, has not played in the IPL since 2015 and the