Australian gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc has opened up on missing the last eight seasons of the Indian Premier League. Starc wanted to manage his workload and focus on the red-ball version for Australia and thus didn’t take part in the IPL auctions. Furthermore, he opted out of IPL 2016 and 2018 due to injury woes.
The left-arm seamer entered the IPL 2024 auction with a base price of INR 2 crore after last playing in the tournament back in 2015 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Starc became the most expensive player in IPL auction history as Kolkata Knight Riders bagged him for a whopping amount of INR 24.75 crores on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Starc picked 16 wickets in 10 matches of the ODI World Cup and thus he played a key role in taking Australia to their sixth title.
Starc has scalped 34 wickets in 27 IPL matches at an average of 20.38 and an economy rate of 7.17 and he would look to deliver for the two-time champions.
Speaking to Willow Talk podcast, Mitchell Starc said, “I made some choices, which I don’t regret at all. I think it’s probably helped my Test career, so I’m very happy with how it’s all gone. Very grateful to have some interest in the auction and excited, thrilled, surprised. There’s plenty of words you can describe the night.”
On the other hand, Mitchell Starc’s wife Alyssa Healy feels the huge amount is the justification of the hard work his husband has put in.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of the one-off Test match against India, Healy said, “Look, it is what it is. It is an amazing moment for Mitch. It is a great justification for the hard work he has put in and (for) probably some of the choices he has made over the last eight years to put his country first. I was actually in the gym, working hard (and) watching it all unfold. It was an amazing day for him and Pat (Cummins).”
Starc will be next seen in action in the second Test match against Pakistan.
