On Tuesday, December 19, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) signed Mitchell Starc for a record-breaking INR 24.75 crore during the player auction. Starc will play for the KR in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024.
An hour or so prior to the Mitchell Starc bid, Sunrisers Hyderabad signed his countryman Pat Cummins for a record 20.5 crore. Though several clubs engaged in a bidding war for the Sydney-born left-arm bowler, the Australian captain’s reign as the most expensive player in the IPL auction was brief. The 33-year-old eventually signed with the former two-time champions for a record-breaking INR 24.75 crore after a fierce battle between the Gujarat Titans and the Knight Riders.
It’s a reward for his hard work and his country-first philosophy during the eight-year IPL break, according to Mitchell Starc wife, Alyssa Healy, who is in India with the Australian women’s cricket team to play a one-off Test against the ‘Women in Blue’.
Look, things are as they are. For Mitch, this is an incredible occasion. It’s a fantastic explanation for all of his effort and perhaps some of the decisions he’s made over the past eight years to prioritize his country,” Alyssa Healy told the reporters, as reported by India Today.
Starc played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Chennai Super Kings in Ranchi in 2015, which was his last IPL match. He has prioritized playing for his country over the years. But Starc has chosen to experience the most popular franchise league in world cricket once more, especially with a T20 World Cup approaching and a more relaxed international schedule.
Starc has taken 34 wickets with a strike rate of 17.06 and an average of 20.38 in 27 IPL games. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, which is regarded as a bowler’s worst nightmare, was the site of many of his games. But his economy rate of merely 7.17 speaks something about his caliber.
Home