Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has backed Australian captain Pat Cummins to generate a lot of interest in the upcoming IPL 2024 auction. The mini-auction is set to take place in Dubai on December 19.

330 players will be going under the hammer with 77 spots to be filled. Only 30 overseas player slots are available for the franchises.

Pat Cummins had pulled out of the IPL 2023 to concentrate on the ICC World Test Championship and the ICC World Cup 2023. And Cummins led the Australia team to victory in the finals of both events, incidentally defeating India in both summit clashes.

With an eye on the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Cummins has put his name in the IPL 2024 auction list with a base price of INR 2 crores.

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Sunil Gavaskar believes Pat Cummins’s multi-dimensional qualities would draw a lot of teams to bid for him. He pointed out that Cummins had hit a 14-ball fifty for KKR and believes several teams will compete for him in the auction.

“I think there will be tremendous interest in Pat Cummins. Don’t forget when he played for KKR, he got the fastest fifty at one stage. So he can play as a batter as well, apart from the fact that he’s one of the best bowlers that the game has seen. I think he would be the one that will attract the most interest from all the franchises,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Cummins has played 42 IPL matches taking 45 wickets and scoring 379 runs in six seasons. He was the most expensive purchase in the 2020 IPL Auction, with Kolkata Knight Riders paying a record 15.50 crores for him at the auction.