Mitchell Starc cops $2.3 million blow amid Aussie humiliation in first cricket Test against India
Starc's IPL deal for 2025 is less than half of what he earned last season.
Mitchell Starc will be playing for a differing Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in 2025 on significantly less money after the left-arm quick went for a much lower-than-anticipated price at the IPL mega auction. In a two-day extravaganza featuring 577 players from across the world, big money is always thrown around as clubs attempt to lock down marquee players from around the globe.
Last year Starc was signed to a whopping $4.43 million contract by the Kolkata Knight Riders- the biggest ever handed out in the IPL. But the 34-year-old started the season slow, going wicketless in three of his first four games for Kolkata but finished strong to help the Knight Riders win the final. But he wasn’t retained by his franchise and decided to go to the IPL auction, where he was snapped up for a relative bargain price of 11.75 crore ($A2.14m) by the Delhi Capitals.
It's a massive pay cut of $A2.29m and it summed up Starc's day really, as he struggled to make an impact against India in one of the darkest days for Australian cricket in recent memory. On Sunday, Australia's bowlers had little joy as India made a mockery of their pace attack to belt 6-487, with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring 161 and Virat Kohl registering an unbeaten 100.
The Australians then humiliatingly collapsed to 3-12 at the end of day three as in the final hour, the Aussies lost Nathan McSweeney (0), Pat Cummins (2) and Marnus Labuschagne (3) in their chase of a record total of 534. Starc then learnt overnight he has a new IPL team and likely would have been left feeling a little disappointed with the fee he commanded at Sunday night's auction.
Many thought the Aussie quick may have opted to skip next season's IPL after not being retained, as the left-arm quick has historically used the period to spend time with his wife and fellow cricketer Alyssa Healy. Before last season, Starc opted to put family and Test cricket first. But the 34-year-old said he would again put his name forward for the IPL auction and would play in the bumper T20 competition again. And he will kit up for the Capitals when the tournament gets underway in March.
David Warner goes unsold at IPL auction
Meanwhile, Aussie veteran David Warner was one of the biggest names who remained unsold on the opening day, after none of the 10 franchises showed interest. The Aussies were still well represented on Sunday, with several snapped up with Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi), Mitch Marsh (Lucknow), Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell (Punjab), Josh Hazlewood (Bengaluru), Travis Head and Adam Zampa (Hyderabad) all scoring deals.
Hazlewood achieved the biggest contract of any Aussie, sold for nearly $2.3million, while Jake Fraser-McGurk's price went through the roof. The young Aussie was sold to the Capitals for 9 crore ($1.64 million) after the franchise, which he starred for last year, matched the bid of the Kings.
It is a remarkable rise for Fraser-McGurk who went unsold at last year's auction before eventually being picked up by the Capitals for 50 lakhs ($91,650) in his first crack in the competition. Maxwell was also sold to the Kings for 4.2 crore ($765,000) and Marsh was picked up by the Lucknow Super Giants for 3.4 crore (620,000).
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While Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the IPL after the wicketkeeper-batter was sold for $3.2m (A$4.9m) to Lucknow Super Giants. Pant overtook Shreyas Iyer, who went to Punjab Kings for $3.18m earlier on Sunday. Pant captained Delhi Capitals across three seasons but was released before this year's mega auction.
Lucknow made the first move and fought off bids from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad as well as Delhi to rope in the 27-year-old celebrated for his six-hitting ability. Both Pant and Iyer are expected to lead their franchises in the world's richest domestic T20 league which gets underway on March 14 next year.
with agencies
