Five wickets for 232 runs in six matches. Bowling stats are as follows Mitchell StarcVery expensive IPL Player of all time, it seems. The left-arm pacer, returning to play in the Indian Premier League for the first time in eight years, Kolkata Knight Riders Until now. Bought for a gobsmacking price of INR 24.75 crore, Starc, one of the best fast bowlers in the world, leaked runs liberally, cutting an unforgivable figure in yesterday’s contest. Rajasthan Royals.
Starc conceded 0/50 – including 18 in the 18th over to help Royals post 224. While the left-arm pacer is struggling, Ian Bishop Starc feels that he has not lived up to not only the price tag but also his reputation as one of the greatest modern pacers of all time.
“I think Mitchell Starc, especially at that price, hasn’t really hit the nail on the head with it. He took three wickets in the last game but tonight he was hoping to step up again. There was this one over where when you need sixes, I think that was a good plan. “There were definitely five wides and there was a short ball when there was nobody in the square. Instead of sticking with the wides, it’s the little things like I said,” Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo.
This was not the first time that Starc scored a run last evening. He leaked 53 and 47 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively, going wicketless in both matches. His only decent outing, Bishop said, came against Lucknow Supergiants, where Starc took 3/28. However, KKR’s failure to pick up a single wicket in the four matches they have played has raised alarm bells. Starc had earlier received support from KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir, but six games in, one believes a crucial call will come as the season nears its business end.
There is no end to Stark’s woes
Starc is known for attacking the wickets and hitting those fiery yorkers. But surprisingly enough, he has resorted to bowling wide yorkers in an attempt to contain the batters, a tactic that Mitch would not expect to find intimidating. Weighing in on these struggles, former New Zealand left-arm pacer Mitchell McClenaghan believes that while Starc is one of the best players in the world, he is only learning how tough and competitive the IPL can be.
“Two overs in a row, we’re talking about the first delivery. He’s tried to bowl a slower ball, and I think he’s trying to bowl a slower ball wide. When you bowl on these pitches, that first ball goes out. And it’s a good momentum-starter for the bowler and That creates chaos in your mind, but he is also changing because the game is different, international pitches are much smaller, I think he is learning to bowl more defensively on Indian pitches.