Mumbai, Dec 20 (IANS) Australia Women team captain Alyssa Healy on Wednesday described husband Mitchell Starc's groundbreaking deal in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction as an "incredible moment" and a "fantastic day."

Healy said Starc becoming the most expensive player in the history of the cash-rich league at Rs 24.75 crore was justified due to the hard work he has put in and for giving preference to the country over IPL money.

Starc was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders for a record-breaking bid of Rs 24.75 crore on Tuesday. He broke the record set a few minutes before by his World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins, who became the first player to breach the Rs 20 crore mark when he was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore.

Healy, who is in India leading the Women's team in a multi-format series against Harmanpreet Kaur's Indian team, faced questions on the IPL auction in her pre-match press conference ahead of the only Test against India starting at the Wankhede on Thursday.

The 33-year-old Healy, who jokingly said she would not answer any questions related to IPL, described it as "it is as it is".

"All right. We'll get the IPL out of the way, will we? Look, it is what it is. it's an amazing moment for Mitch," said Healy.

She said the massive interest that Starc generated was justified because of the hard work he has put in and the sacrifice he has made by missing the IPL for eight years.

"I think it's a great justification for the hard work that he's put in and probably some of the choices that he's made over the last eight years -- to put his country first. So, yeah, a cool day," Healy added.

The Australian women's team captain, who comes from a cricketers family as her uncle Ian Healy played for Australia, said she was not partying during the auction but was rather working in the gym ahead of the series against India.