IPL 2024: Gautam Gambhir explains KKR's plan behind purchasing Mitchell Starc for a whopping price at the auction

Former India player, as well as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir, has backed the purchase of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc for a staggering amount of ₹24.75 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction. He referred to the left-arm speedster as an X-factor and shared that he would also be the leader of the bowling attack as well.

However, Starc broke the record and became the most expensive player to be bought in the history of the IPL auction when KKR acquired him for ₹24.75 crore. He surpassed his Australian teammate Pat Cummins, who was earlier picked up for ₹20.50 crore by SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) as well.

Speaking to JioCinema, Gambhir supported KKR’s decision to buy Starc. He said, “He (Starc) is an X-factor, there is no doubt about that. Someone who can bowl with the new ball, bowl in the death overs and more importantly, someone who can lead the attack. He is going to be of massive help to our two domestic bowlers because both of them are very talented and you need someone to help them out in the middle and Starc covers those bases. It is not only about his bowling but also about leading the attack and helping all guys around him. So, somebody will have to pay for it.”

However, Gautam Gambhir also added that he is happy with the strong bowling line-up Kolkata Knight Riders have for the IPL 2024 auction. Meanwhile, KKR bought Mujeeb Ur Rahman for ₹2 crore and Chetan Sakariya for ₹50 lakh as well.

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“We have a lot of depth in our bowling line-up. We always wanted to have a stronger bowling attack and now we have the options with Mujeeb (Ur Rahman), Gus (Atkinson), Sunil (Narine), Varun (Chakravarthy), and Mitchell Starc along with two Indian seamers (Harshit Rana and Suyash Sharma) and Chetan Sakariya. Now, we have enough options where we can play different combinations looking at the venue as well. For me, it has always been about having a strong bowling line-up compared to a very strong batting line-up,” Gambhir further added.

“For me, KKR is not a team, it is an emotion” – Gautam Gambhir

Notably, the 2024 IPL will be Gautam Gambhir’s return to the franchise, a team he led to the title wins in 2012 and 2014. However, before joining Kolkata Knight Riders, Gambhir was a mentor with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as well.

While talking about his emotions about returning to KKR, Gautam Gambhir said: “For me, KKR is not a team, it is an emotion. The reason is the amount of love that I have received from the people of Kolkata for seven years that I led them and, hopefully, I led them with a lot of honesty. Hopefully, we can recreate the same memories that we did in 2012 and 2014. There is no guarantee that we will go out and win but there is one guarantee for sure, that we will fight till the last drop of our blood.”