Australian pacer Mitchell Starc had a great performance at the IPL 2024 auction held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. Starc was acquired by two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders for a record fee of INR 24.75 crore. The Australian halfback returned to the cash-rich league after eight years.
Mitchell Starc He became the most expensive player in the history of the game. Indian Premier League auction and broke his teammate Pat Cummins, who was sold for a price of INR 20.50 crore in the same auction to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
As he returned to the Indian Premier League and became the most expensive player, Mitchell Starc was excited and couldn’t wait to play in front of the KKR fans. Starc said in the video message shared by KKR on his handle ‘X’: “Hello KKR fans, I am excited to join the team for this year’s IPL and I can’t wait to get to Eden Gardens to experience the home fans, home crowd and atmosphere. I hope to see you then. Ami KKR.”
Mitchell Starc opens up about his return to the Indian Premier League
Mitchell Starc also gave up his opinion on his return to the Indian Premier League and stated that it is humbling that the IPL still wants him. Starc is currently part of the Australian team playing against Pakistan.
While speaking to Jio Cinema, Starc said: “Our Test team WhatsApp group has been ringing, letting us know that I think it’s our cry for dinner and drinks. So it could prove to be a costly little trip to Melbourne for the Boxing Day test. But yes, we managed to find some luck tonight, and yes, I think it is a very, very special night for both of us.”
“I guess it’s obviously humbling to still feel like I’m wanted or needed anyway. So hopefully the experience I’ve had for a few years can translate into success…obviously on the road to the IPL and hopefully adding some of that to the KKR roster.”
Starc has only played two editions of IPL and was unavailable for other seasons due to fitness and workload management issues. Kolkata Knight Riders is only his second IPL team; However, the franchise roped in the ace Pacer in the 2018 auction, but he was later ruled out due to injury as well.
Reflecting on the same, Mitchell Starc added: “Yes, it’s been a while. Obviously I was involved in 2014 and 2015 with RCB and then I resumed in 2018, but I missed out due to injury. And then I really prioritized international cricket and I wanted to prioritize Test cricket there as well and play as well as I could for Australia. So that was my thought process that took me obviously several years anyway. And then at the end of this year and next year, the international scene is much quieter for the Australian group.”
Kolkata Knight Riders are yet to lift an IPL trophy since 2014 and will aim to end the drought in the next edition of the cash-rich league.