Ever since Kolkata Knight Riders signed Mitchell Starc for INR 24.75 crore, all eyes were on the pacer. His initial struggles in the tournament only added to scrutiny and pressure, but Starc remained unfazed by the criticism. Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad made headlines by signing Pat Cummins for INR 20.50 crore, which has been at the center of debate since it surpassed the earnings of several top Indian players.
He said in an interaction that he and Cummins laughed over the situation, more so because their teams made it to the final. Starc justified his price by turning in match-winning performances for KKR, first in Qualifier 1 and then in the final, while Cummins led SRH to their first final in six years with his leadership skills and bowling. Talking about their journey, Starc recalled humorously how they went from being labelled as overpriced to pivotal players in the final showdown.
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“We did laugh about it. So in the first game of the IPL, we played against Hyderabad. Paddy and I both had hefty price tags and we had a bit of a laugh about it. Fast forward nine weeks, and we’re playing each other in the final.”. In a flash, the narrative has gone from ‘they overpaid for these two’ to ‘these two are playing in the final’. Funny how that works,” Mitchell Starc posted on the Willow Talk Cricket Podcast.
In the final, KKR beat SRH by eight wickets, finishing the game so early that the post-match presentation got delayed. Starc said this delayed celebration put a little damper on the party. He also shared a funny incident with young teammate Angkrish Raghuvanshi in which the latter jokingly made fun of Starc’s IPL salary as compared to winner’s prize money.
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“So the game finished at 10 PM, but it didn’t start till midnight. It really killed the vibe. We were just sitting around, and young Anki, who bats at number three for us, saw the winner’s cheques come out. The team got 20 crore for winning the final, and he said, ‘That’s not even what you got paid,'” Mitchell Starc said, laughing.
In the end, both Starc and Cummins shrugged off the critics by proving their worth and taking their teams through to the final—their priciness justified.
