New Delhi [India], December 19 : After Australia captain Pat Cummins, and then pacer Mitchell Starc, broke the IPL auction record for top bid prices, Starc said that the Australian team's WhatsApp group has been buzzing with their teammates telling them that the dinner bill will be on them.
Starc became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore at the auction in Dubai on Tuesday.
The pacer started an insane bidding war that lasted for minutes, with Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) locking horns first. Once they backed out, Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went ahead with an even bigger bidding war, crossing the Rs 20.50 crore spent by SRH on Cummins. Eventually, GT backed out at Rs 24.75 crore and KKR got Starc for a record-breaking prize.
"Our Test squad WhatsApp group's been going off, letting us know that I think it's our shout for dinner and drinks. So 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 yeah, pretty, pretty special night for the both of us, I think," Starc said on JioCinema as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The 33-year-old left-arm fast bowler described the competitive bidding for his services as humbling.
"It's obviously humbling to still, I guess, feel like I'm wanted or needed anyway. So hopefully that experience that I've had for a few years now can translate into success in... obviously leading up to the IPL and, hopefully, add some of that to the KKR list," he added.
Starc has now left behind his skipper Pat Cummins, who was earlier the most expensive player in IPL history with Rs 20.50 crore and was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad just a few hours back.
Starc made his return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction after years, having last played in 2015. He has taken 73 wickets in 58 T20Is and is a multi-time World Champion with Australia across all formats. With 647 international wickets in 262 matches, he is among the best fast bowlers of the modern era.
In his IPL career, Starc has 34 wickets to his name in 27 matches he played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from 2014-15.
Earlier, Cummins broke the roof as he became the costliest player in the history of the Indian Premier League when he was acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 20.50 crore on Tuesday at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
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