Jeddah, Nov 24 (IANS): Delhi Capitals made two significant buys in the first half of Day 1 of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction in Jeddah. Australia's Mitchell Starc was acquired for Rs 11.75 crore while India’s wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was bought for Rs 14 crore by the franchise.

Reflecting on the buys, Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani said, “Pretty elated with the buys. Both KL and Starc are world-class players. In fact, they're battling each other right now in India versus Australia, so it's pretty interesting."

"Starc is a match-winner, he's a wicket-taker, and couldn't be happier. And with KL Rahul again, somebody who we believe is a bankable player, will give you runs each season, has been somebody who's given or scored runs every IPL season. For me, at the moment, this is the best buy of the auction. But having said this, there's work to do," he added.

Speaking about the first session of the mega auction, Badani said, "The energy has been spot-on. We've been patient, we've been disciplined, we've been careful about spends, we've stuck to certain numbers that we had in mind. We have enough clarity as to how we go about this auction. And I think, as of now, we've kind of reaped the rewards of being well-strategised and well-planned."

The first buy of the mega auction for Delhi Capitals was Starc, acquired for Rs 11.75 crore. The left-arm pacer was pivotal in Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 2024 triumph. Over his career, he has taken 193 wickets in 142 T20 matches.

On the other hand, Rahul, acquired for Rs 14 crore, is an experienced IPL campaigner and has been playing international cricket across all three formats for India. In his T20 career, the wicketkeeper-batter has amassed 7,586 runs in 226 matches, including 65 fifties and six hundreds. He won the orange cap in the IPL 2020.