During the IPL 2024 auction last December, Australian speedster Mitchell Starc was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a hefty sum of INR 24.75 Crore, making him the most expensive buy in the league’s history.
It seemed that the whopping price tag impacted his performances in KKR’s first two matches of the ongoing IPL season as Starc conceded 100 runs from eight overs and failed to claim a wicket.
However, things turned around for Starc on Wednesday (April 3) against the Delhi Capitals. The left-arm pace returned with the figures of 2/25 in his three overs. He accounted for the dismissals of compatriots Mitchell Marsh (0) and David Warner (18) when DC were chasing a massive target of 273.
After the game, Mitchell Starc admitted that it wasn’t the kind of start he was hoping for.
“In a game of T20, we all need a little bit of luck, a few edges go by, a dropped catch or two, that’s T20 cricket,” Starc said on the host broadcast.
“You move on pretty quickly, because the games come thick and fast. Yeah, probably not the start I wanted, but we’ve been winning games, so that’s what it’s about. We’re three-nil. And tonight, with bat and ball, we were pretty good, I think.
“It can be brutal at times, particularly on the bowlers [in T20 cricket]. I think we’ve seen on some of the grounds, some of the scores… so yeah, you take a little bit of luck here and there. Yeah, we’re three-nil at the start of the season, and tonight we were pretty clinical with bat and ball. Personal stuff aside, the team’s start has been fantastic,” he added.
When asked how it felt to get the wickets of fellow Australian teammates Marsh and Warner, Starc quipped: “It’s nice to have those ones in the pocket.”
Before Starc dented the DC top-order, Vaibhav Arora drew the first blood by dismissing Prithvi Shaw in the second over. Arora finished with the figures of 3/27 in his four overs.
“That’s all him, he was fantastic tonight, and I thought he used the short ball really well,” Starc replied when asked if he had a role to play in Arora’s success.
“For me, it’s probably more conversations around training, around bowling meetings, when we’re taking on Dave and Mitch, who some of these guys haven’t played before. So just talking a bit around that sort of thing. Just see how they go about their business in the nets, and if they ask questions, just little conversations around that. Certainly not me telling them how to bowl and tonight I thought our whole bowling attack was fantastic,” he further remarked.
