Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins stole the limelight with their price tags during the IPL 2024 auction at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Tuesday (December 19).

Both the players breached the Rs 20 Crore mark for the first time in the IPL auction history. While Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) shelled out a whopping Rs 24.75 Crore to secure the services of Starc, Sunrisers Hyderabad roped in Cummins for a hefty sum of Rs 20.50 Crore.

Speaking to Jio Cinema, South African batting legend AB de Villiers said he’s in awe of the massive bids received by Australian players, insisting that the trick lies in doing well in ICC tournaments.

Notably, Starc and Cummins were part of Australia’s 2023 World Cup triumph with the latter leading the team in the quadrennial event.

“Absolutely unbelievable. I think we are all just in awe. I think the trick lies if you win the World Cup, then things like this happen. You can only be happy for the guys. It is just incredible and shows you the power of this tournament and where it is going,” De Villiers stated.

The former Proteas skipper went on to say that bowlers were always going to be hot property in this auction.

“Every single year it gets bigger and better and stronger. Happy for those two, those stalwarts know what to do with the ball in their hand. As we mentioned before, the bowlers were going to be hot property and we were not disappointed at all,” he added.

After fine-tuning their squads, all 10 franchises are now set for the 2024 edition of IPL, likely to be played between March 22 and end of May.