Australian pacers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc made headlines when they were sold for the highest prices in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. Sunrisers Hyderabad paid INR 20.5 crore to sign Pat Cummins, while the Kolkata Knight Riders paid an incredible INR 24.75 crore to sign Mitchell Starc. Jason Gillespie, a former Australian cricket player, was really impressed after witnessing the sides break the bank for the two players. Celebrating Starc’s accomplishments over the years, the former pacer felt that his cost was reasonable.
Nevertheless, Jason Gillespie was not comfortable with Pat Cummins‘ pricing. According to him, Cummins performs best in the longest format, and the World Cup winner is not very good in T20 cricket.
Pat is undoubtedly a good captain and bowler; we have seen that. To be honest, I think he’s a better bowler in Test cricket, not Twenty20. I believe that playing Test cricket is his main source of income.” As Gillespie stated on SEN Radio,
He seems like a terrific purchase to me. Jason Gillespie
Moreover, Gillespie mentioned that KKR had acquired Mitchell Starc. He expressed his happiness for Starc, saying that the fact that he is so expensive just serves to highlight the importance of left-arm pacers to other teams.
“He seems like a terrific purchase. We all know it’s a lot of money, but the Indian Premier League is an extremely lucrative competition. I couldn’t be more happy for Mitch. It simply goes to show, in my opinion, how highly teams regard left-arm fast bowling and left-arm swing bowling at a quick speed, Gillespie said.
Starc has only participated in two seasons of the competition, but he has already claimed 34 wickets at an average of 20.38 in 27 games. He is eager to continue his stellar play in the 17th IPL season. It will be intriguing to watch how Starc performs in the lucrative league in 2024, as he represents the two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders.