Mitchell Starc suffers massive pay cut in IPL as David Warner yet to find a team and Rishabh Pant sets new price record

Mitchell’s Starc’s horror day against India went from bad to worse with his pay packet in the lucrative Indian Premier League slashed in half in the league’s auction overnight.

Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the IPL after the wicketkeeper-batter was sold for $3.2m (A$4.9m) to Lucknow Super Giants.

However, there was a huge drop in price for the Aussie fast bowler when Delhi bought for $1.40m (A$2.2m) - less than half last year’s record $2.98m paid by Kolkata for the Australian left-arm fast bowler.

Aussie veteran David Warner and Jonny Bairstow of England were two of the biggest names who remained unsold on the opening day after none of the 10 franchises showed interest.

One of the staples of the IPL since his debut in 2009, Warner was passed over by all sides at the mega auction in Jeddah on Sunday night.

There remains some chance he could be reintroduced into the bidding process later on, but at this stage Warner appears at risk of sitting out the tournament.

Australians were well represented, however, with Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi), Mitch Marsh (Lucknow), Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell (Punjab), Josh Hazlewood (Bengaluru), Travis Head and Adam Zampa (Hyderabad) securing deals.

Hazlewood commanded the equal-highest price of any overseas bowler, fetching almost $2.3 million.

Jake Fraser-McGurk’s swashbuckling 2024 campaign at Delhi earned him his first major payday, collecting $1.64 million to stay at the franchise.

It comes after the Victorian smashed 330 runs at a strike-rate of 230.04 for the Capitals last season, after going unsold in last year’s initial auction and being picked up for $91,000.

Marcus Stoinis also earned a $2 million payday when purchased by Ponting at his Punjab Kings, while Glenn Maxwell will join them after an auction price of $765,000.

Mitch Marsh was the other Australian sold to Lucknow for $620,000.

Pat Cummins remains the highest earner of all Australians in the IPL, after being retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad prior to the auction at $3.26 million.

Travis Head had also been retained by Sunrisers for $2.54 million, while Smith headlines a list of 29 Australians available on the second day of the auction on Monday.

Pant overtook Shreyas Iyer, who went to Punjab Kings for $3.18m earlier on Sunday - the first day of the cricket mega auction, which was held for the first time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Pant captained Delhi Capitals across three seasons but was released before this year’s mega auction.

Lucknow made the first move and fought off bids from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad as well as Delhi to rope in the 27-year-old celebrated for his six-hitting ability.

Both Pant and Iyer are likely to lead their franchises in the world’s richest domestic Twenty20 league which is set to start on March 14 next year with the final scheduled for May 25.

Gujarat Titans landed Jos Buttler for $1.88m after Rajasthan Royals couldn’t buy back the England captain, who is expected to open with Shubman Gill. Gujarat also succeeded in buying South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for $1.28m.