Shane Watson will pocket almost $2 million in the Indian Premier League following a bidding frenzy in Saturday's auction.
Watson was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 9.5 crore (approximately $A1.98m).
The Australian allrounder is nearing the end of his international career, but remains one of the most in-demand Twenty20 players in the world.
Watson was sold for almost four times his reserve price of $417,000, with the franchises coached by Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming and Dan Vettori squaring off.
Vettori's table was victorious, meaning Watson will join the likes of Mitchell Starc, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli in Bangalore.
The incredible deal is close to an Australian record when it comes to IPL auction prices.
Shane Warne still holds that title, having been picked up for $2.01 million by Rajasthan Royals in 2011.
Yuvraj Singh holds the overall record, having signed a $3.31 million contract with Delhi Daredevils in 2015.
In this year's auction, Singh was purchased for approximately $1.46 million by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Watson scored an unbeaten 124 in a recent Twenty20 international against India at the SCG, while he was named the IPL's MVP in 2008 and 2013.
No other player has been awarded that crown twice.
"Incredibly excited to join such a great franchise. Looking forward to joining up with my new teammates in April," the 34-year-old tweeted.
Mitch Marsh ($1 million), Kane Richardson ($417,000), John Hastings ($271,000) and national T20 skipper Aaron Finch ($209,000) were also sold on Saturday.
However, Usman Khawaja was bizarrely twice passed in despite his sparkling Big Bash League (BBL) campaign with Sydney Thunder.
Marcus Stoinis, Scott Boland, Ben Cutting, Andrew Tye, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Joel Paris and Adam Zampa were the other Australians picked up in the opening two rounds of the auction.
Melbourne Stars coach Fleming, who is also mentoring new IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiants, recruited BBL charges Kevin Pietersen, Boland, Zampa and Handscomb.
Khawaja headlined the list of Australian talent that attracted no bids.
Test players Joe Burns, Nathan Lyon and Adam Voges were overlooked, while Mike Hussey, David Hussey, George Bailey, Cameron Boyce, Ashton Agar, Shaun Tait, Brad Haddin and Cameron White also went unsold.
