'When IPL started, 20 crore was the salary cap of all teams': KKR CEO explains Mitchell Starc's 'cha-ching moment

This was the second time that the two-time IPL winners signed the left-arm pacer, having roped him back in 2018 for INR 9.4 crore

Less than an hour after Australia's ODI World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins shattered all records at the IPL 2024 Auction in Dubai on Tuesday, with Sunrisers Hyderabad acquiring him for a record offer of INR 20.50 crore, fellow Aussie and multiple World Cup winner himself, Mitchell Starc fetched an all-time high bid of INR 24.75 crore from Kolkata Knight Riders. This was the second time that the two-time IPL winners signed the left-arm pacer, having roped him back in 2018 for INR 9.4 crore before Starc missed the season with a right-leg injury. (IPL Auction 2024 Live Updates)

KKR signed Mitchell Starc for INR 24.75 crore (REUTERS)

KKR weren't however part of what was at least one of the longest bidding processes in IPL history right from the start. It was Delhi Capitals who showed interest with Rishabh Pant raising the paddle at the base price of INR 2 crore before they tapped out with Mumbai Indians standing tall with their 8 crore offer. It was then when KKR said hello and outlasted MI only to find a fresh challenge from Gujarat Titans. The battle lasted for at least 10 minutes before Gujarat, at the end of a long discussion between Ashish Nehra and the team analyst, backed out as KKR signed back Starc for INR 24.75 crore.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, KKR CEO Venky Mysore recalled that in the inaugural season of IPL, all teams had a salary cap of 20 crore before bursting into a laughter.

"Well, you know, I think my take on this is if you sort of look at it from the set of lenses of a price you pay for a player. And now it seems like wow, 24.75. I was telling someone that the salary cap of a team when IPL started in 2008 was 20 crores, 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 100 crores and each team decides to slice it differently. So what you've paid to somebody up down what not is matter of perspective. Ultimately, we're all spending the same amount of money," he said.

KKR, who were in the bidding process for West Indies captain Rovman Powell and England all-rounder Chris Woakes, also signed young Indian fast bowler Chetan Sakariya, Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat and 18-year-old uncapped batter from Mumbai, Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

“When you plan your team, from a retention standpoint, with the auction so far away, you have no idea of who are the other players from other teams who are being released, trades happening, and all that. So it's a very dynamic environment. So you don't also go into the auction with a mindset... I mean, we had options. You have to have options, like like they do. We could have been in the same shoes answering saying, Sorry, we lost out to GT. And we have a plan. And so I think everybody comes with their own plans. We've been around long enough. I mean, I don't know this is my 14th auction. And so, you know, you win some, you lose some, and you just have to be prepared. So it wasn't like you came in with that mindset, but obviously he was a preferred player from that skill set standpoint. It all sometimes works out. Initially, we were not successful in some of the bids. Maybe that worked in our favour, because we did end up having money to do this, otherwise, we might not have been able to do it. So we're just thankful that we were able to have him on our side,” Mysore added.