Australia's World Cup-winning pair lead the way with huge moves to Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively while other tournament stars - Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra, Dilshan Madushanka and Azmatullah Omarzai - all go big
Australia's World Cup winners have crushed Indian Premier League records during the annual player auction in Dubai.
Captain Pat Cummins, who skipped the 2023 competition, was picked up for a massive 20.5 crore (£1.99m) by Sunrisers Hyderabad, setting a new record.
But that watermark stood for just a few minutes as fellow-seamer Mitchell Starc, returning to the competition after an eight-year absence, was picked up for 24.75 crore (£2.34m) by Kolkata Knight Riders after a lengthy bidding war with Gujarat Titans.
KKR chief executive Venky Mysore said: "Very quickly history changed. IPL has changed and the salary cap has changed. Everyone comes with their own plans. This is my 14th auction - you know you win some and lose some.
"Starc was a proffered player from that skillset standpoint. We were not successful in some bids so that favoured us. We were just happy to have him in our side."
Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra are bound for Chennai Super Kings (ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Cummins, who is joined by countryman Travis Head - the player of the match in the ODI World Cup final - and Sri Lanka legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, reacted to his move to Sunrisers: "I've heard a lot about the Orange Army.
"I've played in Hyderabad a few times and always loved it so can't wait to get started. I think we are going to have a lot of fun this season and hopefully plenty of success."
A premium was placed on successful players from the 50-over tournament with defending champions Chennai Super Kings spending 14 crore (£1.3m) on Daryl Mitchell and another 1.8 crore (£170,000) on New Zealand teammate Rachin Ravindra.
Mumbai Indians focused on improving the bowling stocks with Gerald Coetzee from South Africa and Sri Lanka's Dilshan Madushanka - they took 41 World Cup wickets between them - added to their roster.
Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai is off to Gujarat Titans (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Elsewhere, West Indies T20I captain Rovman Powell was an early signing for Rajasthan Royals, Tristan Stubbs moved to Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore added Alzarri Joseph.
Afghanistan allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai was one of the best cut-price deals from the opening sets, moving to Gujarat Titans for just 50 lakh (£47,000).
Titans director of cricket Vikram Solanki, whose side also added Umesh Yadav for 5.8 crore (£580,000), said: "I wouldn't call anybody a steal. That's disrespectful to that player to some extent. We value Omarzai and Umesh.
"You focus on skill sets than players at an auction. We got two players that we had in our pre-planning and we're looking forward to them joining us."
When the auction resumed it continued to be a busy day for KKR, who had a purse of 32.7 crore remaining following the retention window. They added West Indies allrounder Sherfane Rutherford and Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman - who was unused in the first round - for 1.5 crore and 2 crore respectively.
There was no IPL deal for Steve Smith (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Some more notable overseas moves saw seasoned Bangladesh quick Mustafizur Rahman join CSK, Capitals pick up Jhye Richardson and Shai Hope, Aussie quick Spencer Johnson win a maiden deal with Titans, Mumbai Indians plump for Mohammad Nabi, South African Rilee Rossouw head to Punjab Kings and Lockie Ferguson go to RCB at the second time of asking.
Laced through the auction was a series of big-money moves for rising stars from the Indian domestic scene.
That included an 8.4 crore (£840,000) move for Uttar Pradesh's Sameer Rizvi to CSK, 19-year-old wicketkeeper batter Kumar Kushagra going to Capitals for a hefty 7.2 crore (£720,000) and Titans shelling out 7.4 crore (£740,000) for Shahrukh Khan of Tamil Nadu.
Of those players overlooked for a contract, they came no bigger than Steve Smith, who has scored 2,485 IPL runs, but there was also disappointment for Rassie van der Dussen, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi and Finn Allen, among others.
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