Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) fans would be hopeful that the dangerous left arm speedster Mitchell Starc peaks at the perfect time. KKR bought him for a whooping 24.75 Crores which is surreal. Mitchell Starc hasn’t played IPL since 2015 edition as the pacer prioritized red ball cricket over the franchise cricket which is so commendable in the ever changing landscape of cricket.
Cricket Australia’s (CA) chief selector George Bailey had said in one of his interviews that Mitchell Starc is coming back to IPL to get some T20 match practice under his belt for T20 WC 2024. It won’t be a surprise if Mitchell Starc doesn’t play the entire tournament as he is also quite injury prone and CA would be carefully monitoring his workload.
There is no such pressure of a price tag- Gautam Gambhir on Mitchell Starc
Gautam Gambhir was seen interacting with the reporters in Kolkata. Gautam Gambhir was quite sure that Mitchell Starc can perform exceedingly well in the upcoming IPL 2024 edition. Gautam Gambhir also made it very clear that there is no pressure of price tag and termed Starc as the ‘X’ factor.
“I had already said on the auction table that he [Starc] is an X-factor and I am sure he is going to deliver. And there’s no such pressure of a price tag. I hope that what he has done in international cricket, he can do the same for KKR,” said Gautam Gambhir.
Great chance for KKR
Gautam Gambhir undoubtedly can change the fortunes of KKR as he is someone who knows how to play with the minds of opposition teams. We are often forgetting the importance of the coaching setup and especially in a big tournament, it’s quite unpredictable like which team can make an unexpected comeback and win the championship which KKR did in 2014 under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership.
The star right handed batter Shreyas Iyer will be keen to make a mark ahead of the T20 WC 2024 as a lot will depend on how he leads as well as score runs for the teams in crunch situations of the match; we all know that Shreyas Iyer is no longer a contracted player which definitely will encourage him to play out of his skin to stake a claim in the marquee tournament.