Superstars Steve Smith, Aaron Finch and Marnus Labuschagne won’t feature in this year’s Indian Premier League, but a relatively unknown journeyman has hit the jackpot.
Tim David, who was born in Singapore, raised in Western Australia and plays for the Hobart Hurricanes, will be the highest-paid Australian at the IPL in 2022, having been picked up for $1.53 million by the Mumbai Indians.
David is among the top-10 run-scorers in the Pakistan Super League that is currently in progress, having scored 221 runs at the extraordinary strike rate of 206.54.
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A 25-year-old journeyman who has never played first-class cricket, David made 218 runs in 15 matches for the Hurricanes in BBL11.
He has played international cricket for Singapore and makes his living in the T20 leagues around the world. His reserve price for the IPL was just $75,000.
David’s contract is higher than the $1.44m paid by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Josh Hazlewood, and $1.35m outlayed by Kolkata Knight Riders for Test skipper Pat Cummins.
Other Australians who were snapped up on day two of the auction included Daniel Sams ($484,000 by Mumbai Indians) and Sean Abbott ($446,000 by Sunrisers Hyderabad).
Ben McDermott, who was the top run-scorer in this summer’s BBL, went unsold. Likewise, there were no bids for Smith, Finch, Labuschagne, Adam Zampa nor Moises Henriques.
Auctioneer Hugh Edmeades, who collapsed during Saturday’s opening day, sent a video message to say he felt “absolutely fine” but couldn’t give “a 100 per cent performance”.
Australians purchased at 2022 IPL auction
Tim David $1.53m by Mumbai Indians
Josh Hazlewood $1.44m by Royal Challengers Bangalore
Pat Cummins $1.35m by Kolkata Knight Riders
Mitchell Marsh $1.2m by Delhi Capitals
David Warner $1.16m by Delhi Capitals
Daniel Sams $484,000 by Mumbai Indians
Sean Abbott $446,000 by Sunrisers Hyderabad
Matthew Wade $446,000 by Gujurat Titans
Nathan Coulter-Nile $372,000 by Rajasthan Royals
Riley Meredith $186,000 by Mumbai Indians
Jason Behrendorff $139,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore
Nathan Ellis $139,000 by Punjab Kings
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