Perth Scorchers coach Adam Voges predicted an Indian Premier League bidding war for his pace ace Jhye Richardson at tonight’s auction.

That’s exactly what happened with Punjab Kings forced to fork out nearly $2.5m for Richardson’s services after an epic battle with IPL rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals.

The 24-year-old was rewarded for his brilliant Big Bash campaign, topping the Golden Arm standings with 29 scalps at an average of 16.3 and economy of 7.69 runs per over in his first tournament since shoulder surgery.

He will join former Scorcher Chris Jordan and hard-hitting West Indians Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran at the Kings in his first appearance in the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.

Hobart Hurricanes speedster Riley Meredith ($1.42m) and Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques ($743,000) also went to the Anil Kumble-coached franchise, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, on auction night to give it a real Australian flavour.

Aussie white-ball star Glenn Maxwell also enjoyed a massive pay day while in quarantine in Christchurch, going for $2.51M to Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Maxwell will team up with nine-time T20 champion Dan Christian, whose $880,000 price tag is a bargain considering the 37-year-old’s unmatched resume in the format.

Steve Smith was first player sold but copped a pay cut of more than $2M from last year, with the former Australian captain snapped up by Ricky Ponting’s Delhi Capitals for a bargain $389,000.

Experienced South African allrounder Chris Morris was the most expensive player at the auction, selling to Rajasthan for a jaw-dropping $2.88M.

Former WA and Scorchers speedster Nathan Coulter-Nile is returning to Mumbai for $885,000, one of eight Australians purchased in total.

Veteran West Aussie and former Australian Test batsman Shaun Marsh didn’t get any bids at his reserve price of $267,000, likewise with Scorchers Jason Behrendorff ($177,000), Joel Paris ($89,000), Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis and Matt Kelly (all $35,000).

WA and ex-Test allrounder Hilton Cartwright and former WACA and Scorchers rookie Tim David also didn’t get picked up.

Perth’s English imports had mixed fortunes with Liam Livingstone picked up by Rajasthan Royals and his partner in crime Jason Roy going unsold.

Marcus Stoinis (Delhi Capitals), Andrew Tye (Rajasthan Royals), Josh Philippe (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and State captain Mitch Marsh (Sunrisers Hyderabad) were already retained by their franchises.

The 14th edition of the IPL is set to kick off April 11.

WEST AUSSIES AT THE IPL AUCTION

$2.48m: Jhye Richardson (Punjab Kings)

$885k: Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mumbai Indians)

Unsold: Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Shaun Marsh, Joel Paris