Photo: Mitchell Starc (ANI)
Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) star pacer Mitchell Starc, who has stayed away from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a major part of his peak years in order to prioritise playing for Australia, is now considering dropping one format from his career, which he feels might open the doors for more franchise cricket.
“The last nine years, I’ve prioritised Australian cricket. I have given myself a chance to give my body a break and spend some time away from cricket with my wife as well, so that’s certainly been where my head’s been for the last nine years,” Starc said.
“Moving forward… look, I am certainly closer to the end of my career than the start. One format may drop off. There is a long time before the next one-day World Cup and whether that format continues for me or not… it may open doors for more franchise cricket,” he said while dropping a hint of quitting 50-overs cricket.
This was Starc’s third full stint in the IPL, after his association with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2014 and 2015. Given that the IPL 2024 acted as a precursor to the T20 World Cup, starting June 1, most overseas T20 stars were eager to be a part of it, and expectedly it was no different for the Aussie left-arm quick.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season. It’s been great, it leads into the World Cup, that’s the other side of the benefit of being here against some amazing players in an amazing tournament. It’s a great lead-up to a World Cup,” Starc said.
“Next year – I don’t know the schedule exactly – but I’ve enjoyed it, I look forward to being back next year and hopefully be seen in purple and gold (KKR’s colours) again,” he added.
Brutally criticised for his below par performance, given the whopping sum of Rs 24.75 crore splurged on him at the auction, Starc showed his worth towards the business end of the IPL and ended up with a tally of 17 wickets, including five in the two knock-out games, to engineer a dominant title triumph for the KKR on Sunday.
The Australian, who made his international debut back in 2009, however, isn’t affected by such criticisms, and said, “I’ve played a lot of cricket, so I know how to manage myself. I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last few years, so for me, it was trying to find that rhythm of (the) T20 format, and trying to stay ahead of batters.”