When KKR shelled out an unprecedented INR 24.75 crore to acquire Mitchell Starc in the IPL 2024 auction, it raised a few eyebrows. But the franchise clearly knew what they were doing. Since the start of the 2018 cycle, KKR had averaged fewer than 1.5 PowerPlay wickets per innings in each of the six preceding seasons. Starc, despite not featuring in a T20 league for nearly a decade, brought with him a high ceiling, and that upside paid off. He took time to settle, but once he found rhythm in the Playoffs, he broke open games with new-ball spells, notably blowing away SRH twice in the space of a week.

The dynamics of the mega auction meant KKR couldn't retain Starc despite bidding up to INR 10 crore. Instead, they turned to fellow Australian Spencer Johnson to partner with homegrown Vaibhav Arora, who had picked up nine PowerPlay wickets in 2024.

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