Xtra Time Web Desk: Star Australian pacer Mitchell Starc on Tuesday became the most expensive signing in the history of Indian Premier League history when he was brought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a staggering amount of INR 24.75 crores at the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai. Starc surpassed his compatriot Pat Cummins who was brought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 20.50 crores in the same auction. The Australian pacer duo became the first two players to breach the INR 20 crore-mark in salary in the history of the auctions
Starc, who last played the IPL eight years ago, took 34 wickets from 27 games across the 2014 and 2015 seasons at an excellent economy of 7.17. Incidentally, the left arm quick had been signed by the Knight Riders for INR 9.40 crores the last time he entered the auction in 2018. He missed that season with a leg fracture and was subsequently released from his contract the following year.
Commenting on the record signing, Starc said, “Nothing I could have dreamt of. Obviously, a few teams were looking to bolster their pace attacks and there are a plethora of brilliant skill sets and names on their auction list, with Pat (Cummins) being one of them, and going to Dan’s (Daniel Vettori) team in Hyderabad. I wasn’t sure where I would end up, but I am thrilled to be a part of KKR. It’s a team that Pat was at, so hopefully, I can fill his boots there and be very successful.”
On making himself available for IPL 2024, Starc said, “I have prioritized international cricket and wanted to prioritize Test cricket as well, playing as much and as well as I could for Australia. That was my thought process leading up to the last number of years. Coming into the back end of this year and heading into next year, it’s a lot quieter on the international scene for the Australian group. It’s a great chance to get involved in the IPL. Obviously, there’s a T20 World Cup coming up next year and there’s a good chance to play some really competitive T20 cricket in the best T20 league with the world class players we see on all the lists.”