Hopefully, I can fill Pat's shoes at KKR, says IPL's most expensive buy Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc, who was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore, surpassed his skipper and co-pacer Pat Cummins, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore to become the most expensive buy of the cash-rich league.

Dubai: Australia pacer Mitchell Starc, who became the most expensive buy in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after he was snared by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping 24.75 crore, said that he was thrilled to be part of the KKR.

Starc, who was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore, surpassed his skipper and co-pacer Pat Cummins, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore to become the most expensive buy of the cash-rich league.

"Nothing I could have dreamt of. Obviously, a few teams were looking to bolster their pace attacks and there are a plethora of brilliant skill sets and names on their auction list, with Pat (Cummins) being one of them, and going to Dan’s (Daniel Vettori) team in Hyderabad. I wasn't sure where I would end up, but I am thrilled to be a part of KKR. It’s a team that Pat was at, so hopefully, I can fill his boots there and be very successful," Starc told JioCinema.

The 33-year-old Sydney-born left-arm pacer has played 27 IPL matches and got 34 wickets with best bowling figures of 4/15.

"I have prioritized international cricket and wanted to prioritize Test cricket as well, playing as much and as well as I could for Australia. That was my thought process leading up to the last number of years. Coming into the back end of this year and heading into next year, it’s a lot quieter on the international scene for the Australian group.

"It’s a great chance to get involved in the IPL. Obviously, there’s a T20 World Cup coming up next year and there’s a good chance to play some really competitive T20 cricket in the best T20 league with the world-class players we see on all the lists," added Starc, who has also played 58 T20s.