Mitchell Starc witnessed a historic return to the Indian Premier League as he bagged a staggering amount during the IPL auction 2024 on Tuesday, December 19. Kolkata Knight Riders recorded the biggest-ever bid of INR 24.75 crore to sign an Australian pacer and stole all the limelight.
Earlier in the auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad shattered records to sign Australian captain Pat Cummins for INR 20.50 crore, breaking the previous all-time record of Punjab Kings's signing of Sam Curran during the 2023 auction. But Starc's name emerged at the most expensive IPL auction list with KKR beating Gujarat Titans to stun everyone.
After learning a record bid for him, Mitchell Starc talked about his excitement to sign for the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2024 season. Starc said that he is thrilled to join KKR and is looking forward to play at Eden Gardens next season.
IPL 2024 2024 Live Coverage
After beating Gujarat Titans in a heated bidding war, Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore revealed the reason behind the team's record-breaking bid for Starc.
"Somebody told me just now before Starc's bid, they put up something like a historic bid. Very quickly history changed. IPL has changed and the salary cap has changed (laughs). Everyone comes with their own plans. This is my 14th auction - you know you win some and lose some. Starc was a proffered player from that skillset standpoint. We were not successful in some bids, so that favoured us. We were just happy to have him in our side," Venky Mysore said.
Starc, 33, played two IPL seasons (2014 & 2015) with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Notably, KKR had signed Starc during the IPL 2018 auction but the bowlers missed out on an entire tournament due to an injury.
