Former India cricketer questions Mitchell Starc being paid more than Jasprit Bumrah | IPL 2024 Auction

Mitchell Starc being bought for ₹24.75 crore by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2024 Auction may be a head-turning news but it hasn't gone down well with Aakash Chopra.

The former India cricketer, who once played for KKR in the IPL, questioned Starc being paid more money than several top Indian cricketers.

Aakash Chopra took to his YouTube channel and said, 'Mitchell Starc - 24.75 crore rupees. Pat Cummins - 20.50 crore rupees. Jasprit Bumrah is 12 crores, MS Dhoni is also 12 crores, Virat Kohli - 17 (15) crores, and Rohit Sharma is also 16 crores. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Sam Curran, Cameron Green - all of them are more expensive than them. Is this what is called kalyug?'

'Who is the No. 1 T20 bowler in the world at the moment? Who is the No. 1 bowler of this IPL? That player's name is Jasrpit Bumrah, and Bumrah gets 12 and Starc gets close to 25. It is wrong. I don't grudge anybody's money. I will be the happiest if everyone gets as much money as they can get, but how is this right?', he added.

Chopra also pointed out that one of the reasons why KKR wanted to pick Starc at any cost was because of the new '2 bouncers per over' rule in IPL 2024. That has put 'more focus on fast bowlers,' he concluded.