<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Starc tuned in to the auction at home in Sydney while resting ahead of the second test against Pakistan in Melbourne.</p><p>Healy, the newly installed captain of the Australian women's team, watched from India ahead of the one-off test in Mumbai.</p><p>"I'm not sure any words will do it justice, really," Starc said of the auction result.</p><p>"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.</p><p>"A fair bit of shock and certainly excitement with how it was all unfolding, but nothing I could have ever imagined.</p><p>"It's a Christmas full of cricket as usual but it's certainly one with a nice little cherry on the cake."</p><p>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.</p> .IPL auction 2024: Players who rose from relative obscurity to remarkable fame.<p>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.</p><p>"Your heart starts to pump a little bit, as you see the paddles going up," the 32-year-old told New Zealand media.</p><p>"But having been through the auction before and going unsold, it was a pretty special night last night to experience that."</p><p>Mitchell, who played a big part in New Zealand's run to the recent World Cup semi-finals in India, also celebrated his daughter's birthday on Wednesday, the day after the auction.</p><p>"She's got a pretty good present, waking up to that – not that she understands what's going on," he said.</p><p>"But that's the whole thing about these sorts of situations – it helps set up your family in many ways so that they can grow up and enjoy the things they love."</p>
<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Starc tuned in to the auction at home in Sydney while resting ahead of the second test against Pakistan in Melbourne.</p><p>Healy, the newly installed captain of the Australian women's team, watched from India ahead of the one-off test in Mumbai.</p><p>"I'm not sure any words will do it justice, really," Starc said of the auction result.</p><p>"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.</p><p>"A fair bit of shock and certainly excitement with how it was all unfolding, but nothing I could have ever imagined.</p><p>"It's a Christmas full of cricket as usual but it's certainly one with a nice little cherry on the cake."</p><p>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.</p> .IPL auction 2024: Players who rose from relative obscurity to remarkable fame.<p>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.</p><p>"Your heart starts to pump a little bit, as you see the paddles going up," the 32-year-old told New Zealand media.</p><p>"But having been through the auction before and going unsold, it was a pretty special night last night to experience that."</p><p>Mitchell, who played a big part in New Zealand's run to the recent World Cup semi-finals in India, also celebrated his daughter's birthday on Wednesday, the day after the auction.</p><p>"She's got a pretty good present, waking up to that – not that she understands what's going on," he said.</p><p>"But that's the whole thing about these sorts of situations – it helps set up your family in many ways so that they can grow up and enjoy the things they love."</p>