Mitchell Starc's record-breaking Rs 500000000 in IPL mega auction

New Delhi: Mitchell Starc has once again made headlines at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction by securing a lucrative deal with the Delhi Capitals (DC) for ₹11.75 crore. The Australian pacer had caused a stir at the IPL 2024 auction as well, becoming the highest-paid player in the league's history with a staggering ₹24.75 crore bid. Starc's impressive performances on the field have consistently attracted intense bidding wars, with the Kolkata Knight Riders making a serious play for his services during the 2023 auction.

Mitchell Starc has become only the second cricketer after his Aussie teammate Pat Cummins to sur-pass the ₹50 crore mark in the IPL auction. Surprisingly, Starc has only played three IPL seasons and has been part of just four IPL auctions.

Starc began his IPL journey with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for ₹4 crore in IPL 2014, which was played in the UAE due to the Indian general elections. Starc stayed with RCB for two years, and since then, he has been in high demand whenever he entered the auctions. The left-arm pacer from Australia has recently joined Delhi Capitals and become only the second player to bag ₹50 crore or more in IPL history.

The Australian pacer suffered an injury just before the 2018 IPL season, which caused him to miss the T20 league. Starc stayed away from the IPL thereafter. He registered for the IPL 2024 auction and set records by joining KKR for Rs 24.75 crore. It was a mini-auction, and Starc was expected to breach the 20-crore mark. However, his price dropped in the mega-auction, and DC secured his services for Rs 11.75 crore.

He has now earned a total of ₹50.9 crore in IPL auctions. Pat Cummins tops the list with a total of ₹54.15 crore earned in IPL auctions. Glenn Maxwell follows with ₹49.50 crore. Yuvraj Singh (₹48.1 crore) and Dinesh Karthik (₹44.35 crore) round out the top five, respectively.

Rishabh Pant emerged as the costliest pick of the IPL 2025 mega-auction, joining Lucknow Super Giants for ₹27 crore. This was only the second time he was part of an IPL auction.