Dubai [UAE]: Australia's experienced pacer Mitchell Starc who became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League is looking to fill the shoes of his compatriot Pat Cummins in Kolkata Knight Riders.
On Tuesday, during the min-auction ahead of IPL 2024, Cummins first became the most expensive player after Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him for Rs 20.50 crore.
Starc later in the evening dethroned him following a high-intensity bidding war between KKR and Gujarat Titans. While speaking on JioCinema, Starc stated that he didn't expect to go for that amount and would be looking to fill the spot left by Australia skipper Pat Cummins.
"Nothing I could have dreamt of. Obviously, a few teams were looking to bolster their pace attacks and there are a plethora of brilliant skill sets and names on their auction list, with Pat (Cummins) being one of them, and going to Dan's (Daniel Vettori) team in Hyderabad. I wasn't sure where I would end up, but I am thrilled to be a part of KKR. It's a team that Pat was at, so hopefully, I can fill his boots there and be very successful," Starc said.
He also talked about his availability for the IPL 2024 as the T20 World Cup which will be played in the US and West Indies will fall back to back. The official schedule is yet to be announced for both tournaments.
"I have prioritized international cricket and wanted to prioritize Test cricket as well, playing as much and as well as I could for Australia. That was my thought process leading up to the last number of years. Coming into the back end of this year and heading into next year, it's a lot quieter on the international scene for the Australian group. It's a great chance to get involved in the IPL. Obviously, there's a T20 World Cup coming up next year and there's a good chance to play some really competitive T20 cricket in the best T20 league with the world-class players we see on all the lists," Starc added.
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.
—ANI