IPL 2024 Auction: KKR CEO Opens Up On Mitchell Starc's Historic Acquisition For 24.75 Crores

Mitchell Strc was signed up by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping 24.75 crores in the IPL 2024 auction. After an intense bidding war between KKR and Gujarat titans, it was the Knight Riders who succeeded in adding him to their squad.

Starc’s base price was 2 crores heading into the auction and he ended up getting over 24 crores. Starc’s Australian skipper Pat Cummins was also picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 20.50 crores. The two Australian bowlers cost a total of nearly 45 crores between the two franchises. Both were expected to fetch big money and eventually the same happened.

KKR who released all their premier bowlers heading into the auction needed 12 slots to fill including 4 overseas slots. So far in the auction, they filled just one overseas slot and a few more domestic slots.

Also Read: Mitchell Starc Breaks All-Time Record As Gets Bought By KKR For 24.75 Crores In IPL Auction 2024

KKR CEO Venky Mysore spoke about his acquisitions so far in the auction. Given that KKR invested the most money behind one particular player it was very evident that he would be asked about Starc’s addition.

“Well, you know, I think my take on this is if you sort of look at it from the set of lenses at the price you pay for a player. And now it seems like wow, Rs 24.75 crore,” Venky Mysore said, as quoted by India Today.

“I was telling someone that the salary cap of a team when IPL started in 2008 was 20 crore, the entire salary cap. So things have changed, right? But, you know, I think our view is, when the auction is over, all the 10 teams are going to walk out of the auction having spent Rs 100 crore and each team decides to slice it differently” added the KKR CEO.

“So what you’ve paid to somebody up down what not is a matter of perspective. Ultimately, we’re all spending the same amount of money,” he added.

Mitchell Starc Becomes Most Expensive Player In IPL Auction History

This is the first time that an IPL franchise has bought two players over 20 crores in the same auction. Starc who will be playing his first IPL season in 8 years overtook Sam Curran who was sold to Punjab Kings 18.50 crores in IPL 2023 auction.

Starc and Cummins remain the top two most expensive cricketers ever in the IPL history now. Every year, the stakes are rising in the IPL auction and the franchise owners are not backing down from investing money to getting the players that they like.

Apart from Starc, KKR has added KS Bharat (50 lacs), Chetan Sakariya (50 lacs), and Ramadeep Singh (20 lacs) to their ranks. KKR had a remaining purse of 32.70 crores heading into the IPL 2024 auction. They invested more than half of their money on Starc while adding the other three for their base price.

A total of 332 players have registered themselves for the IPL 2024 auction. Among them, 216 are Indians, 116 overseas players, and two are from associate nations.

Also Read: Gerald Coetzee Bought By Mumbai Indians For 5 Crores In IPL Auction 2024