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Australian pacer Mitchell Starc admitted getting shocked for securing himself an INR 24.75 crore bid at the IPL 2024 auction. The Aussie made a historic return to the cash-rich league after a long gap of eight years. He was roped in by the two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping sum and became the most expensive buy in the history of the tournament. After securing the bid, Starc said that his teammates’ WhatsApp group has been buzzing demanding dinner and drinks from him and Pat Cummins.
With his highest bid, Starc surpassed his compatriot Pat Cummins’ record, who secured the highest bid earlier in the day. Cummins was roped in by the SunRisers Hyderabad for ₹20.50 crore and became the first player to cross the ₹20 crore mark. Starc reacted to his record-breaking bid and said that his wife, Alyssa Healy, was providing him with the updates from India.
He said, "Yeah, it was a shock, if you call it. But, my wife, Alyssa Healy, is actually over in India with the women's team and I think coverage there was slightly ahead of time in Australia. So I was getting updates before I could see it on the screen." Former England captain Eoin Morgan then asked him, who would pay for dinner and drinks between him and Cumms, to which he replied, "Yeah, our test squad group, WhatsApp group has been going off, letting us know that I think it's our shout for dinner and drinks."
He added, "It might be a costly little trip to Melbourne for us for the Boxing Day test. But, yeah, we've managed to find some luck tonight and, uh, yeah, a pretty special night for the both of us." The upcoming season will mark Starc’s second stint with Kolkata Knight Riders after he represented them in 2015.
