Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc made history in the IPL auction on Tuesday, securing the title of the most expensive player in the league’s history with a staggering bid of ₹24.75 crore. This remarkable feat came barely an hour after his captain in Tests and ODIs, Pat Cummins, received an astonishing ₹20.50 crore paycheck, highlighting the dominance of pacers in the lucrative auction.
Following Cummins’ impressive bid from Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders further raised the stakes by offering an even larger sum for the left-armer Starc. The Aussie, who had last participated in the IPL back in 2015, witnessed a substantial increase in his payout, surpassing the record set by Sam Curran the previous year when Punjab Kings paid a then-record ₹18.50 crore for the English all-rounder. However, South Africa’s former batter AB de Villiers doesn’t quite agree with the shelling out of such mammoth amounts for the Australian duo.
“I couldn’t agree more. Some very smart buys. Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and other teams that do well in the IPL do well in the auction as well. They make smart buys and not emotional buys. Cummins and Starc, both incredible players, but really? for that price?” said de Villiers
“It just shows you the demand. There was demand for fast bowlers in this year’s auction and when the demand goes up, the price goes up.”
Starc’s last IPL stint was for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015 and since then, the Sydney man has skipped the league for a variety of reasons ranging from concentrating on Test cricket to spending time with his family. But once the left-arm pacer decided to participate in the auction, he fitted perfectly into the KKR’s plans of finding a fast bowler with pedigree ahead of IPL 2024.
