Cummins leads stars up for grabs at IPL auction in Dubai

Some of the world's top cricketers will go under the hammer at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Tuesday in the next auction for the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Players can start the bidding for their services at up to $240,000 but the best will be snapped up for many times that.

This time the 10 IPL franchises will have a combined $31.5 million to spend.

The Twenty20 tournament, the richest in cricket, is expected to begin in March.

With the players pocketing most of the fee, let's take a look at five stars who could hit the jackpot:

Pat Cummins (Australia)

Cummins skipped this year's IPL because of a packed calendar but will make a triumphant return after taking Australia to World Cup glory in India.

The fast bowler silenced a crowd of 100,000 in the final in Ahmedabad when he bowled out Indian hero Virat Kohli and was widely lauded for his captaincy in leading Australia to the title.

Cummins, 30, who previously made an auction record of $2.17 million when he signed with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019, will enter with a top base price of $240,000.

Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith and Sean Abbott will be among the other Australian World Cup winners in the hunt for a payday.

Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)

The up-and-coming batting all-rounder of Indian origin made three centuries in his 578 runs at the World Cup for a strike rate of 106, along with five tournament wickets.

The 24-year-old's first name reflects his father's love of India's cricket greats -- "Ra" from Rahul Dravid and 'chin' from Sachin Tendulkar.

Ravindra, a left-handed batter and spinner, had his name chanted by Indian fans during the World Cup and can expect the same enthusiasm from franchises when his name comes up for grabs at a base price of $60,000.

Harry Brook (England)

Exciting England batsman Brook has plundered runs in all three international formats and has a strike rate of 141.54 in the T20 version.

He was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $1.6 million in the previous auction but failed to make much of an impact, barring a century early in this year's IPL.

The 24-year-old then managed just 169 runs in six World Cup matches, but recently hit a match-winning 43 in a West Indies ODI and has kept his base price at $240,000.

Gerald Coetzee (South Africa)

One of the breakout stars of the World Cup, Coetzee finished inside the top five bowlers in the competition with 20 wickets.