Aakash Chopra predicts player who can earn the highest bid in IPL 2024 Auction

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra predicts that a star Aussie player could emerge as the highest-priced player in the upcoming IPL 2024 Auction scheduled for December 19. The marquee cricketer, absent from the Indian Premier League since the 2015 season, has enlisted himself in the IPL 2024 auction with a starting price of Rs 2 crore.

Australia pacer Mitchell Starc is anticipated to attract substantial bids in the auction, given his previous contributions, having played for the Royal Challengers Bagalore during the 2014 and 2015 seasons where he amassed a total of 34 wickets for RCB.

Aakash Chopra disclosed that unofficial sources have indicated that at least five franchises have communicated with Starc, expressing their interest in bidding for him if he is available in the auction.

"Mitchell Starc would take away a million dollars. Almost everyone who plays in Australia have registered for the Tata IPL auctions. But the most popular of them is undoubtedly Starc. He is a gun bowler with the new ball, picks up early wickets and bowls yorkers as well. Starc is also a good death bowler and has impressive IPL numbers, as well. He did well playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past. However, since then, the number of times he has backed out from playing in the league is a concerning factor," Aakash Chopra said while hosting JioCinema’s daily sports show #AAKASHVANI.

Aakash Chopra warns franchises of the drawback of signing Mitchell Starc

However, Chopra also noted that Starc's inconsistent availability history might pose a challenge for him in securing a lucrative deal. The former India cricketer also highlighted the drawback for franchises if things go south after buying him. 

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"After a team buys him, if he backs out at the last moment in order to focus on the Ashes or any personal reason, then the team is in a spot of bother. They will have the money released but key players will not be there. Even in this auction, apart from Starc, there will be other key bowlers like Gerald Coetzee, Josh Hazlewood, Dilshan Madushanka, Ben Dwarshuis and more. But, if you buy Starc and he backs out later, then you cannot go back to these names as well as they won't be available anymore. I won't be surprised if Starc goes for a huge sum of money but I will be a little sceptical, what if he backs out," Chopra added.

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