IPL 2024: Mitchell Starc hit the headlines when he became the most expensive player in IPL history. During IPL Mini Auctions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured his services for a whopping ₹24.75 crore. Critics found this as a strange bet because, despite being one of the legends in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Starc was not seen as one of the top performers in T20 cricket.
Starc’s T20 record isn’t extraordinary either: He has played 60 T20Is and taken 74 wickets, with a strike rate of 18.2 and an average of 23.33. In addition, the last time the Australian bowling all-rounder played in the IPL before this season was in 2015. It was, however, a productive season for him. In 13 matches, he took 20 wickets at a strike rate of 12.90 and an economy of 6.76.
But, nine years is a long time in professional cricket. Moreover, Starc did not play T20 cricket in the last couple of years.
Starc shone in KKR’s match against Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) on April 14. He took 3 wickets for 28 in 4 overs. The feat is also significant as two of his wickets, including that of Nicholas Pooran who was batting at 45 off 32 balls, was in the last over, which helped KKR to restrict the LSG total.
Before this match, however, Starc did not deliver much for KKR. And, there has been criticism about his performance, especially as he was costly purchase for the franchise. He took just 2 wickets in 4 matches before this, conceding 11 runs per over. Starc has now quelled that criticism.
Starc not bothered about criticism
“I don’t read anything so that doesn’t bother me,” KKR’s star bowler said after the team’s 8-wicket win at the Eden Gardens.
“I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years, so it’s probably taken me a little bit longer than I would have liked to get back into the rhythm of things and make a better impact. So, today was nice in that regard,” Starc was quoted as saying by ANI.
“We play again on Tuesday, and I think that’s a feature of T20 cricket, whether you have a good day or bad day. You quickly focus on the next game,” he added.
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Published: 15 Apr 2024, 10:32 AM IST
