Cummins becomes most expensive buy in IPL history; Harshal, Mitchell too draw big bucks
Dubai (PTI): World Cup winning captain Pat Cummins on Tuesday became the costliest buy in IPL history after fetching a whopping Rs 20.50 crore bid from Sunrisers Hyderabad while Harshal Patel and Daryl Mitchell also drew the big bucks at the auction here.
Besides Cummins, Sunrisers also grabbed World Cup final hero Travis Head for Rs 6.80 crore.
Harshal Patel, who was released by RCB ahead of the auction, remains a sought after player with Punjab Kings paying Rs 11.75 crore for the out of favour India pacer.
Mitchell, who also had a good ODI World Cup, had a massive payday with Chennai Super Kings spending Rs 14 crore for the New Zealand batter.
Cummins' winning bid is unlikely to be bettered in the remainder of the auction.
An intense bidding war followed for Cummins with Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad raising their paddles frenetically to secure the services of the fast bowling all-rounder.
In the end, it was SRH who broke the bank for Cummins, who drew the highest-ever bid surpassing the Rs 18.5 crore that Punjab Kings had shelled out for England's Sam Curran last year.
It was not the first time that Cummins attracted huge sums at the IPL auction. Ahead of the 2020 edition, KKR had paid Rs 15.5 crore for his services.
Head, who scored a match-winning century in the ODI World Cup final against India and also starred in the World Test Championship final against the Rohit Sharma-led team earlier this year, saw reigning champions Chennai Super Kings and SRH indulge in a bidding war.
The wicketkeeper batter was finally grabbed by 2016 champions SRH.
"We really wanted him (Travis Head) because we needed an opening left-handed batter. Adding to that he can bowl spin as well.
"I never thought we would get him for that price because of his performance being tremendous in the last couple of years in T20Is and ODIs for Australia," SRH's spin bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan said.
New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra, with a base price of Rs 50 lakh, was snapped by CSK for a modest Rs 1.8 crore. Ravindra was another star of the recently held ODI World Cup in India.
West Indies T20 skipper Rovman emerged as the costliest player in set 1 of the IPL auction, going to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 7.40 crore.
Powell, who had a base price of Rs 2 crore, was the first player to go under the hammer at the mini auction and as many as three teams showed keen interest to rope him in for the 2024 season.
Eventually, Rajasthan Royals got their hands on the big hitter, who also captains their team Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The trio of former Australia skipper Steve Smith, India's Manish Pandey and Rilee Rossouw went unsold, while England's Harry Brook was snapped by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore.
Young South Africa pacer Gerald Coetzee attracted a winning bid of Rs 5 crore from Mumbai Indians while India pacer Shardul Thakur returned to CSK for Rs 4 crore.
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Choose faith or future: BJP alleges 'second-class treatment' of Hindus in K'natka CET row
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused the Karnataka Congress government of being "anti-Hindu" and following double standards after students appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) were allegedly asked to remove their 'janeu'.
A political row erupted after five Brahmin students were allegedly forced to remove the thread, considered sacred and worn across the torsos, at a city college in during the CET on Friday.
Students alleged that the invigilators at Madivala asked them to remove their janeu/yajnopaveetha if they wanted to write the exam.
In a video post on X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla lambasted the act.
"Is it a crime to be a Hindu in Karnataka? In Karnataka, students were stopped from entering the examination hall for wearing a janeu and were given a brutal option -- choose your faith or your future. This happened last year as well," Poonawalla alleged.
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He accused the Karnataka government of practising double standards and engaging in appeasement politics.
"In Karnataka, we have seen the politics of appeasement. Muslim reservation, a Muslim-only budget, and quotas and contractual work for Muslims. But Hindus have to remove their sacred thread if they want to take an exam, which even the courts have, by the way, allowed," he alleged.
He accused the Congress government of adopting a similar approach in other states where it is in power, while allowing hijab and burka in classrooms.
"It has happened in various Congress-ruled states. We have seen that the Congress party advocates the right to hijab and burkha within the classroom. They say this should be allowed. Even the courts have overruled it.
"But in the case of janeu, they want it to be removed. This is not the first time this has happened. In Telangana and other states, the tilak and mangalsutra were removed. But hijab is fine. This is the kind of second-class treatment being given to Hindus," he added.
Poonawalla said the Congress should rename itself from INC to "MMC -- Muslim League Maowadi Congress" or the "Islamic National Caliphate Party".
As the controversy took a political turn, the college suspended the invigilator pending inquiry. The government also ordered a probe.
The police registered a case and detained three staff members of Krupanidhi College who were in charge of examination checking for questioning, officials said.
A similar incident took place last year in Karnataka, following which the government directed that the candidates would not be asked to remove the janeu while appearing for the CET.
