Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders created history in the IPL 2024 player auction with their successful bid for Australian pacer Mitchell Starc. KKR left everyone stunned as they bought Starc for then record price Rs 24.75 crore topping Sunrisers Hyderabad who had shelled out Rs 20.5 crore for Australian captain Pat Cummins. KKR’s amazing bid for Starc was only surpassed by Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 mega auction last year after they bought Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer for Rs 27 crore and Rs 26.75 crore respectively. One person who had ringside view of KKR’s machinations and their record-smashing bid for Starc was Bollywood star Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta’s daughter Jahnavi Mehta. In an exclusive interview to India.com website Jahnavi revealed what happened behind the scenes on the auction table in Dubai back in 2023 during the IPL 2024 Player Auction. “Yeah the 2024 auction that was obviously really special for a lot of reasons. We went on to win that year which was fantastic. And I think a lot of it was set up by that auction” Jahnavi Mehta told India.com in an EXCLUSIVE interview from the United States. “And I had mentioned earlier Mitch Starc is one of my favorite players to watch. So I think that also really added to the whole experience of that auction for me. Honestly when I look back it was kind of surreal because when we spoke in the meetings before the auction we were very very clear that we needed to get a gun-paced bowler to lead our bowling attack. That was the big hole that we all felt. And we looked at the list of players who were going to be in the auction and I mean you see Mitch Starc’s name and you think that is someone who can potentially lead you to an IPL trophy especially if he is healthy and he is committed to the full season” she added. KKR had come in with a big purse for IPL 2024 player auction: Jahnavi Mehta KKR co-owner’s daughter Jahnavi Mehta recalled how KKR came into the IPL 2024 player auction in Dubai with a big purse and target of Mitchell Starc on their mind. “We had come in with quite a big purse if I can’t remember exactly how much but it was around Rs 34 crores I think. We knew that we were going to have to fight hard for Starc because we weren’t the only team looking for that kind of quality pace bowler. Gujarat Titans also had a purse of over Rs 30 crore and they were sitting on the table behind us at the auction. I was on the corner of the table. So I would just keep turning around and looking at them and trying to see if I could read any lips but everyone is very careful about that kind of thing!” Jahnavi recalled. Jahnavi Mehta said the KKR team had to be very careful and patient when it came to Starc at the auction. “Starc wasn’t part of the Marquee players that year and was coming up later in the auction as part of the ‘Fast Bowlers’ pot. We had to patiently wait for his name to come up and let go of plenty of quality cricketers before him. And we had other gaps to fill. “It came down to the question of OK when do we give up on this? I’m pretty sure that was our last bid. If Gujarat had bid again I do not think we would have raised the battle one more time” Jahnavi Mehta said. “I remember just slumping back in my chair and thinking oh my goodness I cannot believe that we managed to pull that off. It was a really good auction for us in many ways and I mean we even got Ramandeep Singh in that auction which I think he was one of the steals of the auction for us” she added. Starc ended up claiming 17 wickets in 14 matches for KKR in the IPL 2024 to lead KKR to their third IPL crown. However the Australian pacer wasn’t retained by KKR ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction with Delhi Capitals bagging him last year.