Mitchell Starc was humbled after fetching a record Rs 24.75 crore at the auction on Tuesday. His new ball partner and captain Pat Cummins also went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.5 crore.

“Our Test squad Whats­App group’s been going off, letting us know that I think it’s our shout for dinner and drinks. So it might be a costly little trip to Melbourne for us for the Boxing Day Test,” Starc said on JioCinema. “But yeah, we’ve managed to find some luck tonight, and yeah, pretty, pretty special night for the both of us, I think.

“It’s obviously humbling to still, I guess, feel like I’m wanted or needed anyway. So hopefully that experience that I’ve had for a few years now can translate into success in… obviously leading up to the IPL and, hopefully, add some of that to the KKR list.

“Obviously a few teams were looking to bolster their pace attacks and there was a plethora of brilliant skill sets and names on the auction list... not sure where I
was going end up, but as I said, really thrilled to be part of KKR.

“A great chance to get back involved in the IPL. Obviously there’s a T20 World Cup coming up mid next year as well, and a good chance to play some really, really competitive T20 cricket in the best T20 league going round with the world-class players that we see on all the (squad) lists.

“There’s a World Cup coming up (in the West Indies and USA), and a place that in recent times us the Australian group have spent a lot of time is in India, and obviously most recently with the ODI World Cup and having some fond memories there, particularly at Eden Gardens in the semi-finals. So I look forward to being back as a home player and (to) a home fan base.”

With great salaries come great expectations, and Starc is aware of that.

“Yeah, no doubt there. There’ll be some pressure that comes with the territory, I guess. But having the extra experience behind me than when I was last in the IPL hopefully can hold me in good stead,” he said.

“I’ve had a few, a few ups and downs along the way over the years, but I think it comes with the territory and one you have to embrace and just try and be as successful as you can and add as much impact into a group as you can.”