In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought the Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc for a record-breaking 24.75 crore rupees. KKR believed Starc could be their key player, who could do wonders for them in the bowling department. But, so far he has been unable to justify his hefty price tag.
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Playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2024, Mitchell Starc is having a terrible time. In the first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he conceded 53 runs in 4 overs and has not scalped any wicket. In the second match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) he conceded 47 runs in 4 overs he bowled, and this time too he didn’t get his hands on any wicket. He remains wicketless in this tournament so far and has already conceded 100 runs.
Bowling against SRH, in the first over he conceded 12 runs, while they were defending the target of 208 runs. In his second over he gave away 10 runs, while being smashed for two boundaries. The third over was an economical one for Starc as he gave only 5 runs in that over. Then he came back into attack in the 19th over of the match, which is considered the most important over while defending the target.
And guess what happened then? He conceded 26 runs when SRH needed just 39 runs to win. Heinrich Klaasen smashed him for 3 sixes and on the last ball of the over Shahbaz Ahmad also hit him out of the boundary rope. However, KKR won the match by 4 runs, thanks to the brilliant bowling from Harshit Rana, who successfully defended 13 runs in the last over.
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Mitchell Starc had another forgetful outing against RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The first ball of his first over against Virat Kohli was smashed for a four. However, it was not a confident shot from Kohli, the ball took a thick outside edge and went for a boundary. It was a modest over for him as he gave only 7 runs.
But the second over made him frustrated once more as he conceded 17 runs. Virat Kohli struck him for a six and a four, while Cameron Green hit him for four on the last ball. In the third over, he made a comeback and conceded just 7 runs but again in the 4th over he was thrashed for 16 runs. Kohli and Dinesh Karthik again hit him for a six each.
Notably, Mitchell Starc has returned to the Indian Premier League arena almost after a decade. Even if Mitchell Starc is not having a good time bowling in the IPL 2024, he is a world-class bowler known for his deadly yorkers and insane swing. Once back in form, the left-arm pacer can turn the tide of the game in the favour of KKR. Until then, KKR needs to back him and trust his abilities as a first-choice fast bowler of the team.
