‘Surprised but thrilled’ – Mitchell Starc shows his excitement on getting acquired at 24.75 crore by KKR ahead of IPL 2024

Kolkata Knight Riders made history in the IPL 2024 auction as they bought Mitchell Starc for a gigantic amount of INR 24.75 Crore, which made the Aussie bowler the most expensive guy in the history of IPL auction. After the IPL 2024 auction, Mitchell Starc got in a chat with Star Sports and expressed his amusement towards becoming the most expensive IPL auction pick. 

In between the auction, KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore talked about the importance and value the Australian pacer Starc can add to the KKR squad. Starc talked about how he was getting early updates because his wife participate in the WPL, he also discussed how he was previously bought by KKR in 2018 but could not participate in the season due to an injury and is looking forward to playing the upcoming season. 

Mitchell Starc on becoming the most expensive player in the history of IPL auction

“It was a shock, of course. My wife Alyssa is with the women’s team in India so she was getting updates quicker than what I was seeing on screen. Surprised but thrilled. Our Test squad WhatsApp group has been going off to say its our shout to get dinner next. Something to do ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Special night for both of us,” Starc spoke to Star Sports.

“Been a while, yes. I’ve been involved with RCB in 2014-15, then picked up by KKR in 2018 but got injured. But I’ve been prioritising international cricket and Test cricket for Australia. Coming into the back end of this year and next year, it’s much quieter for Australia as a group so excited to be involved. A good chance to play some really competitive T20 cricket in the best T20 league going around with a T20 World Cup coming up,” he said.

Starc further added, “Humbling to still feel like I’m wanted or needed I guess. My gameplay hasn’t changed much across formats except few things here and there. Hopefully, the experience can translate to some success. Not too much else to be said.”

Kolkata Knight Riders Retained Players: Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer. 

Signed during the auction: Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya, KS Bharat, Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvnashi, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Sakib Hussain. 

Squad Strength – 23 (Indian-15, Overseas-8)

Purse Remaining – INR – 1.35 crore