Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand with his daughter after the game against England in 2023. Photo: Matthew Impey/www.photosport.nz
Distracted by wrapping presents for his daughter Addison's fifth birthday Black Cap Daryl Mitchell was only partly paying attention to the bidding war in the Indian Premier League that made him a multimillionaire.
The allrounder was picked up on Tuesday night by the defending champion Chennai Super Kings for $2.7 million.
Mitchell's bid was the third biggest among 72 players who went under the hammer at the 10-team auction.
He joins a team with eight overseas players including Black Caps teammates Mitch Santner, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra.
Mitchell said it was a special night for his family as he watched with his wife Amy and tried to keep busy as he waited for his name to come up in the televised auction held in Dubai.
"Your heart starts to pump a little bit as you see the paddles going up. Having been through the auction before and going unsold it was a pretty special night last night to experience that and to now be part of the Chennai Super Kings is an exciting time ahead," the 32-year-old said.
Santner was the first to welcome his new teammate to the Stephen Fleming-coached Super Kings - a side captained by Indian legend MS Dhoni.
"I'm really excited to play under Flem; he is a great of the game in our country as a player and now as a coach as well and to learn off him, he's had a lot of success and I'm really looking forward to that experience.
"For us as players we spend a lot of time with each other and I grew up with Mitch since we were about 12 years old and now with Dev and Rachin in the team it's going to be good fun and also a lot of the Indian players again. The cool thing about the IPL is you get to rub shoulders with some world class players and you get to learn things off them as well."
Mitchell said getting signed for a significant sum came off the back of years of hard work in New Zealand's domestic competition followed by top performances for the Black Caps.
At the recent Cricket World Cup Mitchell scored two centuries against India, a move that could have put him in the spotlight with the IPL sides.
"I think any performances you have on the world stage is going to help you with that I'm sure the teams are pretty thorough with how they scout and the positions they want I'm sure over a number of years a few performances have helped contribute to this."
Fleming could see the value in picking up Mitchell who had set his base price at $196,000.
"Daryl is a different type of player, but his performances over the last 18-24 months have warranted this type of a price. He is an unfashionable player, often goes under the radar. With his ability to play spin he is competitive and he is also a handy bowler,"Fleming told India Today.
Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc attracted an all-time competition record bid of $4.8m from the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Eight other Black Caps were unsold in the auction, including pace bowler Kyle Jamieson, who was picked up for a New Zealand record $2.86m three years ago by the Royal Challengers.
The IPL starts in March.
Trent Boult of Rajasthan Royals , Devon Conway of Chennai Super Kings and Mitchell Santner of Chennai Super Kings Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Black Caps in the 2024 IPL
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner
Gujarat Titans: Kane Williamson
Rajasthan Royals: Trent Boult
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Glenn Phillips