- Mitchell Starc: Rs 24.75 crore. Pat Cummins: Rs 20.5 cr. Sam Curran: Rs 18.5 cr. Three of the costliest buys in IPL history are overseas fast or fast-medium bowlers.
- Other than Starc and Cummins, fourth and fifth on the list of costliest buys at the recent mini-auction — Harshal Patel (Rs 11.75 cr) and Alzarri Joseph (Rs 11.5 cr) — are pace bowlers.
- Leaving out Starc and Cummins, the average sum spent on 13 overseas fast bowlers at the mini-auction was Rs 4.08 crore. Uncapped Australian Spencer Johnson went for Rs 10 crore.
Overseas fast bowlers have always been in demand in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Other than swing, seam, pace, bounce and the X-factor, they bring to the table experience of playing in T20 leagues the world over. Franchises find this valuable and do not mind breaking the bank to buy them. There is no denying this truth. These bowlers tended to be more durable and effective than Indians.
This situation was expected to change. In the last few years, India produced some of the world’s best speedsters in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. More or less the same batch had Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav. Mohammed Siraj joined the gang later. This was one of the best pace attacks in the world. The stocks of Indian fast bowling were rising.
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That’s why unknown overseas fast bowlers commanding significant sums and so many homegrown boys going at base prices appeared discordant. Yes, Harshal got a fortune, Shivam Mavi Rs 6.4 crore and Yash Dayal Rs 5 crore. But that proves the theory right. None of these three are new kids on the block. There are no new kids in sight. Those who were there were not hot properties for the IPL.
In a way, Patel, Mavi and Dayal getting hefty sums showed that the IPL franchises did not deem the upcoming Indian fast-bowling talents worth the investment. The same franchises didn’t mind spending Rs 10 crore on an uncapped Australian Johnson, above Rs 9 crore combined for Sri Lankans Nuwan Thushara and Dilshan Madushanka, Rs 4 crore or more on international irregulars like Chris Woakes and Jhye Richardson, or falling back on Lockie Ferguson and Mustafizur Rahman, who do not provide anything new.
Compare this with players like Steve Smith, Phil Salt or Adil Rashid going unsold. There were a few more surprise no-buys. Some big names went for lesser amounts. This happened because Indian talents take up most of the slots for batters and spin bowlers. Teams don’t need a Smith, who is slowing down, or even a Salt, who is blazing away in T20Is. Indians offer the franchises suitable alternatives. That is not the case when it comes to domestic fast bowlers.
Of the uncapped Indians who made headlines at the mini-auction for getting good bids, none were specialist fast bowlers. Most of those in this category went for Rs 20 lakh or 50 lakh. It’s true that many franchises have this base covered. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar and a few others had already been bought. These teams did not need fresh Indian recruits. But these are also the teams which spent crores afresh on the foreign fast boys in Dubai.
Most of these big buys are possibly worth the price tag because they are more experienced in franchise cricket. Indians play only the IPL. Players from other countries can play everywhere. This makes them something closer to finished products, while Indians remain a work in progress. It can also not be overlooked that the next generation of Indian fast bowlers miss that zing their immediate predecessors had. It’s not great to see India lose something it craved for a long time and had for a while.
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