Record IPL deal a cherry on the cake for Starc at Christmas

MELBOURNE : Mitchell Starc's record $2.98 million deal at the Indian Premier League auctions was the ideal Christmas present for the match-winning paceman as he prepares to spend the holidays apart from his cricketing wife Alyssa Healy.

Australia's all-formats hero became the most expensive player in the history of the league after attracting the eye-watering bid from Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday.

Starc tuned in to the auction at home in Sydney while resting ahead of the second test against Pakistan in Melbourne.

Healy, the newly installed captain of the Australian women's team, watched from India ahead of the one-off test in Mumbai.

"I'm not sure any words will do it justice, really," Starc said of the auction result.

"Obviously, Alyssa's over there with the Australian team at the minute so I think her coverage was slightly ahead of mine here in Australia so she sort of saw the numbers before I did.

"A fair bit of shock and certainly excitement with how it was all unfolding, but nothing I could have ever imagined.

"It's a Christmas full of cricket as usual but it's certainly one with a nice little cherry on the cake."

There was joy on both sides of the Tasman Sea, with New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell overwhelmed by his bumper 140 million rupees ($1.68 million) deal to join Chennai.

The bid was a massive hike on the base price of 7.5 million rupees Mitchell took to join Rajasthan Royals for two appearances in the 2022 IPL.

"Your heart starts to pump a little bit, as you see the paddles going up," the 32-year-old told New Zealand media.

"But having been through the auction before and going unsold, it was a pretty special night last night to experience that."

Mitchell, who played a big part in New Zealand's run to the