Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping $2.52 million in the latest Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

In what turned out to be a keen battle between Bangalore and the Chennai Super Kings, it was the former who won out, signing the short-form specialist, along with Indian captain Virat Kohli to their roster.

At 32-years-old, it is the richest contract Maxwell has signed in his IPL career.

Speaking with AAP, Bangalore’s director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, said Maxwell’s price tag is justified.

“We know how good a player he is away from the IPL,” Hesson said.

“We have other players doing other jobs, we were after that X-factor player in the middle,” he said.

Jhye Richardson almost beat Maxwell as the highest-paid Australian, being sold to the Punjab Kings for $2.48 million.

This year’s tournament sees the return of Chinese mobile company Vivo as the IPL’s title sponsor, following its brief replacement by Indian online gaming platform, Dream11, during the 2020 competition.

The IPL had little choice but to cease partnership with Vivo last season following clashes at the India-China border in June 2020.

Currently 50% of title sponsorship money goes to the eight franchises, with each team receiving approximately US$2.7 million at the current rate.