Tuesday night, Mitchell Starc was “jittery” at home in Sydney, watching the IPL 2024 auction. Starc had already accomplished a lot that day: he had prepared himself dinner, walked the dogs, manicured the grass, and completed his shopping.
When the capped fast bowlers in the fourth set came up for bidding, Starc waited nervously for his name to be called. Pat Cummins, his friend and captain of Australia, has already signed a deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 20.5 crore (about US$2.569 million), breaking the previous record established by England all-rounder Sam Curran at the 2023 auction to become the most expensive player in IPL history.
Prior to the auction, a number of analysts and team executives had predicted that Starc would win that distinction. After over two and a half hours of the Dubai auction, player Number 28—Starc—was put up for bid.
Starc wouldn’t believe what was about to happen, and neither would anybody else watching the sale. Bidding was initiated by Delhi Capitals owner Kiran Gandhe and Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani. Gandhe left at the INR 9.4 crore threshold. Enter the INR 9.8 crore threshold for the Kolkata Knight Riders. for the eve of the auction, the Knight Riders had been the favorites to bid for Starc. Ultimately, they had acquired him for INR 9.4 crore during the 2018 auction; however, Starc was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
Gujarat Titans and Knight Riders engaged in a bidding war after Mumbai also withdrew. There were tense minutes as both teams increased their bids in an attempt to reach Cummins’ asking price. When Starc overtook Cummins, the auction room erupted with cheers. Following over seventeen minutes of bidding, Knight Riders ultimately secured Starc for INR 24.75 crore. In less than two hours, the most expensive player tag had shifted from Cummins to Starc.
Both Starc and his spouse Alyssa Healy, who was providing updates from Mumbai, where she is participating in the Australia women’s tour of India, which begins with a special Test match this week, were in complete shock. In an interview with Star Sports, Starc admitted he wasn’t ready to end up creating history and had only been “intrigued” about how he would do.
When asked to describe his response to Knight Riders’ winning bid, Starc replied, “I’m not sure any words would do it justice, really,” with a laugh. “Alyssa’s coverage was slightly ahead of mine here in Australia because she was currently over there with the Australian team.” She was sort of the first to see the numbers, so she was the one providing me with the updates. Yes, there was a good deal of astonishment, but there was also exhilaration about how everything was turning out. However, nothing at all like I had ever envisioned. Extremely happy to be joining KKR.”
Starc only participated in two IPL seasons, with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015 after being acquired for INR 5 crore. Before opting to participate in the auction ahead of the 2018 season, he then made the decision to restrict his workload for a few years. The Knight Riders had placed a large bet on Starc even back then because they thought he had what it took to win matches repeatedly. These included his ability to bowl at a pace of between 140 and 150 kph while producing both conventional and reverse swing, flooring batters and breaking stumps with toe-crushing yorkers, mixing things up with a wicked slower ball, and adding threat to their batting with his left-arm angle.
Sadly, Starc’s tiba injury prevented him from participating in the 2018 campaign. However, Starc is content to play with the Knight Riders six seasons later. “Firstly, it’s exciting to be back involved,” he stated. “Secondly, it’s more of a bit of a shock and a surprise, I guess.”
With 12 seats, including four international players, to fill, the Knight Riders had the most remaining purse of any club going into the auction. They started working as soon as the auction started, raising their paddle for West Indies all-arounder Rovman Powell, who ultimately signed a contract with the Rajasthan Royals. Eventually, the Knight Riders would leave with ten new players signed.
Surprisingly, all nine individuals, excluding Starc, signed at their base fee. You may “slice” the pocketbook in a variety of ways, as Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore noted following the acquisition of Starc.
However, how can one explain a team’s decision to spend INR 24.75 crore, or 75.69% of the purse they had going into the auction, on a single player? Starc was chuckling to himself. “They are amazing numbers, aren’t they?” As soon as the season starts, he is aware of the expectations and pressure that go along with the price. However, he possesses unique qualities: a wealth of expertise and the ability to win World Cups under duress. “I’m 33 now, so I’ve had to deal with a few ups and downs and pressures of certain games,” he stated. “I hope to keep that under control, but when some of those figures are combined to the excitement of an impending season, that’s just part of the deal.
“I played in the Indian Premier League in 2014 and ’15, but it’s been a while, and I’ve certainly played a lot of cricket since then. In various formats, a large amount for Australia. There is experience there, as well as a small amount of leadership if you like, in terms of the experience side of things in white-ball cricket, which I hope to bring to KKR and play my part there. There has been a lot of white-ball cricket there [in India] over a few World Cup campaigns. Additionally, I believe that the ability to bowl at various times has remained constant throughout.”
Starc never felt uncomfortable, even if he missed the IPL. He had set goals for himself and been concentrating on performing for the Australian audience. He was a major part of the historic 2023 campaign that saw Australia win the World Test Championship, keep the Ashes, and defeat a formidable India in the World Cup final in front of over 90,000 spectators in Ahmedabad.
Starc thinks he is prepared for the IPL currently.”I’ve probably prioritised international cricket firstly for a long time whilst having a bit of a taste of IPL and Big Bash in Australia.” He stated. “I have always been certain that I want to give Australia my all when playing cricket and to be available for Australia whenever possible. However, it’s impossible to resist the urge to return to the Indian Premier League because of how thrilling it is to take part in such a prestigious competition with big names, big players, and huge platforms. Everything has a place to be played. To be able to do everything, all you need to do is practice mindfulness and a strong work ethic.”
Starc also had fond memories of the Eden Gardens. In the World Cup semifinal match against South Africa on November 16, he captured three wickets and batted resolutely alongside Cummins in a stressful pursuit of 213 runs. “I’m very much looking forward to playing as the home team and experiencing that home crowd [at Eden Gardens],” he stated. “Some new colors to pull on and a new challenge to look forward to.”
Then, what can an ardent Knight Riders fan anticipate from Starc? “Hopefully, more of the success that I’ve had over some time – swinging the new ball, reversing the old, and trying to smack those wickets.”
As they prepare to join the rest of the Australian team in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, Starc is excited to meet Cummins ahead of training on Wednesday. He laughed and remarked, “There might be some interesting conversation between the gym and the bowling group tomorrow.”
While he and Healy will indulge in a “Christmas of cricket” around several continents over the remainder of 2023, Starc is delighted to spread the happiness he and Cummins have felt today to the other members of the Australia team. “The team chat has been going nuts,” he stated. They’re all saying that it’s our yell, so we should simply carry on with our lives and prepare for the upcoming Test match. However, it’s possible that some of our Australian teammates are waiting on us to attend to them.
