CHENNAI: It’s not easy being the cost liest player in the history of IPL. It becomes doubly difficult when Rs 24 crore don’t translate into performances straight away for a team like Kolkata Knight Riders. But then, that’s where class and pedigree take over and Australian superstar Mitchell Starc showed that with his two match-winning spells for KKR in Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad and the final in Chennai on Sunday.
“There has been a bit of friendly banter about the price tag, but then that didn’t bother me much. I have had my share of critics all my life and you can expect such conversations when you come to the best domestic league in the world. It is our job to set examples for younger players and I am grateful that the club had the success and I had a small part in it,” Starc said after his 'Player of the Match' effort.
The ball that the 35-year-old Starc bowled to remove Abhishek Sharma was hailed by many as the ‘ball of the tournament’. When asked to explain how he executed that ball to perfection, Starc smiled.
“Don’t know much more than the fact that it hit the stumps. For 14 years I have been trying to do it, good that it came off in Qualifier 1 against Travis Head as well. It feels nice when a ball like that comes off, but the most important thing is that it resulted in Powerplay wickets, one of the most important things in T20 cricket.”
Close to quitting ODIs, Starc was asked whether he would return to IPL, a tournament that he last played in 2015. While he has always been in demand, Starc chose to give his body some rest, to be fit to play for Australia. But now, he feels that he is “closer to the end” of a superb career that he had for the Aussie national team.
“For the last nine years, I have prioritized Australian cricket. April and May are the two months off for us and I tried to give my body some rest. But moving forward, I know that one format may have to drop off — the ODI World Cup being so far away (2027 in South Africa), it could be that,” Starc said.
“It is a great lead-up to the T20 World Cup playing against so many great players in such a competitive league. I look forward to being back next year and I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of KKR. It’s on the management to decide if they want to retain me, but I really enjoyed these two months,” he said, hoping for an
encore next year.
