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David joins IPL millionaires club as top Aussie buy

The Singapore-born West Australian who plays Big Bash cricket for Hobart and has made his name in T20 leagues around the globe has hit the jackpot at the IPL's 'mega-auction'

Hobart Hurricane's globe-trotting T20 journeyman Tim David has joined Australia's millionaires club after a lengthy bidding war on the second day of the Indian Premier League 'mega-auction'.

David, currently playing in the Pakistan Super League with Multan Sultans, was eventually bought for A$1.53 million by the Mumbai Indians.

It sets a new high-water mark for an Australian cricketer at this year's IPL auction, surpassing the sale prices for international stars Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh and David Warner yesterday.

Born in Singapore, but having grown up in Perth since age two, David played underage state cricket for Western Australia, but it was in T20 matches for the country of his birth that he began to shoot to stardom. He is now a highly sought-after player in T20 tournaments in Pakistan, England and the Carribean as well as at home in the Big Bash, and spent last year in the IPL at Royal Challengers Bangalore but played just once.

He had set his base price at just A$75,000 – barely above the minimum at the lucrative IPL auction – and soon had bids rolling from a variety of teams. 

The INR8.25 crore the Mumbai club shelled out to secure his services is the highest figure the franchise has ever paid for a non-Indian player.

Delhi made the early running for the tall 25-year-old but were soon swamped as Kolkata Knight Riders and new franchise Lucknow Super Giants pushed the price up. Rajasthan swooped in to push the price beyond A$1m and kick-start a new wave of bidding with Mumbai entering the fray and ultimately winning out.

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The bidding for David, who had a strike rate of 163.90 in this summer's BBL in his role as a middle-order finisher, far outstripped that for the Australian internationals in action during the second Dettol T20I against Sri Lanka at the SCG.

Daniel Sams was bought for A$484,000 while sitting on the bench watching Sri Lanka's run chase, but Australian teammate Ben McDermott joined the growing group of Aussies who were overlooked by the cashed-up franchises.

Sams became the first Aussie bought on day two of the auction, and was soon joined by Perth Scorchers quick Jason Behrendorff, who was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for A$139,000. He joins Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell at RCB alongside Virat Kohli.

Pace bowlers were in demand, with Sean Abbott bought by Sunsrisers Hyderabad for A$446,000, while Riley Meredith was snapped up by the Mumbai Indians for A$186,000. 

That figure was the base price for Meredith, with Mumbai the only club to bid, and is a huge A$1.23 million less than he was bought for at the 2021 auction by Punjab Kings.

But it was otherwise a chastening night under the hammer for the Australians who failed to find favour, despite a total of $12.23 million spent on Australians for this year's season. 

Australia's white-ball captain Aaron Finch, who had set a base price of A$280,000 could not attract a bid,and neither did Kane Richardson who went unsold while on-field returning figures of 1-44

McDermott, the top run-scorer at this summer's KFC BBL and fresh from a half-century in the opening T20 against Sri Lanka, failed to attract a bid at his base price of A$94,000. 

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Four Australians had earned million-dollar pay days on Saturday, with Josh Hazlewood topping that group with a A$1.44m deal to join Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Test captain Cummins and the heroes of Australia's T20 World Cup-winning side Marsh and Warner were the others to break the seven-figure barrier.

Pat Cummins was sold for A$1.34m to Kolkata Knight Riders in what was a A$1.82m discount on the eye-watering A$3.16m the franchise paid for him last season.

In what many pundits believe is excellent value among the largesse of the IPL, the Ricky Ponting coached Delhi Capitals snapped up both Mitch Marsh for A$1.2m and David Warner for $A1.16 million, the latter a huge reduction on his $A2.38 million price last year.

Star allrounders Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell had already secured their extravagant pay days before the auction process: Glenn Maxwell was retained by RCB last December for A$2m and will play alongside Hazlewood, while Marcus Stoinis was picked up by the new Lucknow franchise for A$1.7 million.

The final round of the auction in the early hours of Monday morning saw teams nominate players previously passed in as unsold to be put up again, and it was during this process that saw two more Hurricanes players join the IPL.

Matthew Wade found a buyer at the second pass, bought by new franchise Gujurat Titans for A$446,000.

It marks a return to the IPL for Wade for the first time since 2011 when he played three games with the Delhi franchise.

Nathan Ellis, who claimed a hat-trick on his T20 international debut last winter, was picked up by Punjab Kings for A$139,000 returning to the franchise that recruited him for the UAE leg of last year's tournament. 

Ben McDermott, Moises Henriques, Kane Richardson all had their names called for a second time at the request of teams, but were all passed in again.

Nathan Coulter-Nile was bought at the third time he was presented, snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals at his base price of A$372,000.

Andrew Tye has his name called three times, but did not attract any bids.

There was no request for a second opportunity to consider bidding for Steve Smith or Adam Zampa after they were passed in on the opening day.

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Just when the Australian players can link up with their IPL franchise remains to be seen, with a tour of Pakistan and the end of the domestic season both conflicting with the expected start of the IPL.

The tour of Pakistan runs until April 5 when the one-off T20 will be played, although the three-Test series will finish on March 25.

The Sheffield Shield final is due to finish on April 4.

The schedule for this year's IPL has not yet been revealed but it has been widely reported to be starting on March 27.

Cricket Australia is understood to have told IPL franchises that players involved in the white-ball series against Pakistan will not be released to travel until April 6, while players that make the Shield final will not be able to travel until April 5.

Players wanting to participate in the IPL need a 'No Objection Certificate' from CA to compete, which dictates their availability. These are not usually withheld unless there is national duty, or a medical/fitness reason.

The ability of the Aussies to participate in the final stages of the IPL also remains unclear with a tour of Sri Lanka to feature three T20s, five ODIs and two Tests to be played in June and July, although exact dates have not yet been confirmed.

Australia's national selector George Bailey said the IPL was a "really good development opportunity" for players, but that national duty would always take precedence.

"We do see the IPL as a really good development opportunity when it fits, but there's obviously a huge amount of cricket with a series (in Sri Lanka) planned for immediately-post the IPL as well," Bailey said this week.

"So it will be about working with the individuals to ensure they're getting the preparation they need, but we certainly won't be releasing players to the IPL while Australia are playing."

Australians in the 2022 IPL auction

SOLD

Tim David A$1.53m Mumbai Indians

Josh Hazlewood A$1.44m Royal Challengers Bangalore

Pat Cummins A$1.35m Kolkata Knight Riders

Mitchell Marsh A$1.2m Delhi Capitals

David Warner A$1.16m Delhi Capitals

Daniel Sams A$484,000 Mumbai Indians

Sean Abbott A$446,000 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Matthew Wade A$446,000 Gujurat Titans

Nathan Coulter-Nile A$372,000 Rajasthan Royals

Riley Meredith A$186,000 Mumbai Indians

Jason Behrendorff A$139,000 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Nathan Ellis A$139,000 Punjab Kings

UNSOLD

(Players whose names were called during the IPL auction, but attracted no bids)

Steve Smith, Adam Zampa, (base price A$372,000), Aaron Finch, Kane Richardson (A$280,000), Ben Cutting (A$142,000), Marnus Labuschagne, Andrew Tye (A$186,000), Ben McDermott (A$94,000), Ben Dwarshuis (A$57,000), Hayden Kerr (A$38,000).

NOT CALLED

(Players who were accepted into the IPL auction but were not put up during the bidding process)

Ashton Agar (base price A$372,000), Chris Lynn, Usman Khawaja (A$280,000), Moises Henriques, James Faulkner, D'Arcy Short, Josh Philippe (A$186,000), Billy Stanlake (A$142,000), Kurtis Patterson, Wes Agar, Jack Wildermuth, Joel Paris, Hilton Cartwright (A$94,000), Chris Green (A$75,000), Matt Kelly (A$57,000), Tanveer Sangha, Alex Ross, Jake Weatherald, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Rogers, Liam Guthrie, Liam Hatcher, Jason Sangha, Matt Short, Aidan Cahill (A$38,000).

RETAINED AHEAD OF AUCTION

Glenn Maxwell A$2m Royal Challengers Bangalore

Marcus Stoinis A$1.7m Lucknow Super Giants