MATCH STORY
Follow UsWhen Mitchell Starc was purchased for a record INR 24.75 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction, it was widely acknowledged that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were taking a wild gamble, buying on reputation rather than performance.
After all, at the time of his purchase, the left-arm pacer was a part-time T20 cricketer. He’d played 36 T20 matches in total since the start of 2017 and had a pretty ordinary record during this period. Nothing groundbreaking certainly. Nothing that warranted a side paying him INR 24.75 crore for a couple of months of work.
Still, KKR decided to take a gamble on the 34-year-old because the idea of what Starc, the T20 bowler could possibly do had fascinated them.
Seven games into their IPL 2024 campaign, you wonder if KKR are experiencing buyer’s remorse.
They are second on the points table, but not because of their most expensive signing. They find themselves second despite their 24.75 crore speedster, who has proven to be one of the worst performers in the season and, hands down, the worst signing of IPL 2024.
On April 21 (Sunday), Starc nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for KKR. After Andre Russell effectively sealed victory for the side in the penultimate over for them, Starc nearly gifted Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) the game, going 6 0 6 6 vs Karn Sharma before just about pulling things back in time to get his side over the line.
So, where has Starc gone wrong this season? (spoilers: almost everywhere).
No penetration with the new ball
Starc was roped in largely for his x-factor with the new ball, but he’s not been a point of difference for the Knight Riders with the new ball.
So far this season, the left-armer has averaged 57.7 in the powerplay, which is the third-worst among all seamers who have bowled 12+ overs in the 1-6 phase. In terms of economy, only Mohammed Siraj (11.0) has been more expensive.
At his peak, Starc, for both Australia and RCB, set the tone with the ball in the very first over he bowled. That’s simply not been the case this time around.
The 34-year-old has not struck even once in his first over so far in IPL 2024. In fact, his figures in the first over this season read 7-0-69-0.
Liability at the death
If Starc has proven to be ineffective with the new ball, he’s been a downright liability at the death barring the clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Eden Gardens.
Starc has bowled seven overs in the 16-20 phase in this IPL and leaked runs at an economy of 13.70. Minus the LSG clash, where he conceded five runs, his ER in the rest of the games has been 18.0, 19.0, 11.5, and 15.5.
Among bowlers who have bowled more than five overs at the death, Starc’s ER is the fourth-worst.
The left-armer prides himself on nailing the yorker and using reverse swing to great effect, but this season, he’s offered slot ball after slot ball. Nearly 40% of Starc’s deliveries at the death this season have been right in the slot. And batters have managed to take 49 runs off these deliveries in just 16 balls.
With some of the deliveries providing width as well (like the ones to Karn Sharma today vs RCB), batters have found it incredibly easy to put Starc away.
Weak link in an inexperienced pace unit
KKR paid the big bucks to Starc for his reputation, but also his experience, mainly considering he was set to walk into a very inexperienced KKR pace unit.
But not only has he taken the fewest wickets of all KKR pacers, he’s been — by some distance — the most expensive of the lot.
Starc has been so poor that Shreyas Iyer has had no option but to trust the likes of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora over him. To Rana and Arora’s credit, the duo have done a stellar job for the side.
Amidst all of this, the only silver lining for KKR is that despite Starc’s horror run, they still find themselves second on the points table.
With no ready-made replacement available for the 34-year-old on the bench, the Knight Riders will have to hope that the veteran magically turns his season around.
Luckily for them, Starc has a knack for doing the same.
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