Many questioned the hefty sum spent by the Kolkata Knight Riders' management on the Australian speedster Mitchell Starc who had not played any Indian Premier League (IPL) game for a considerable amount of time. (Match Blog | Scorecard)
But KKR believed in him and his abilities. He also showcased his superb bowling skills in the latter part of the league after leaking a lot of runs at the beginning.
Starc returned to the IPL after almost a decade and went for a whopping Rs 24.75 Crore in the mini auction in December last year. Cricket pundits criticised KKR management at that time and also questioned if Starc could ever justify his price tag.
In the first qualifier of the IPL 2024 played on Tuesday, he removed Sunrisers Hyderabad's destructive opening batter and his compatriot Travis Head on the second delivery of the first over.
He was brought back into the attack in the fifth over and removed the young batters Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed on successive deliveries to leave SRH reeling at 39/4 in five overs. In his three-over spell so far he has taken three wickets conceding 22 runs at an economy of 7.30.
Starc has only missed a game for KKR this season due to a niggle otherwise he has featured in all of their fixtures. KKR's last two matches were washed out which gave the lanky pacer a much-needed break from the sport to come stronger in the virtual semifinal match on Tuesday.
KKR is playing against SRH in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2024. The winner of the match will secure a spot in the final, which will take place on Sunday, May 26, 2024. The loser will compete in Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday.
He has taken 15 wickets for KKR this season in the 13 matches played so far. His teammates Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have also taken 15 wickets each in IPL 2024. Punjab Kings' Harshal Patel is leading the table with 24 wickets.
