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One of the big stories coming out of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini-auction is Mitchell Starc’s comeback to the league after eight years. The veteran Australian pacer took a break from the IPL after 2015, citing reasons that ranged from injuries to the prioritisation of national duties. Starc was last seen in an IPL auction in 2018 when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) paid Rs 9.4 crore for his services. Unfortunately, he missed the entire season due to a fracture in his right tibial bone.
Starc will now be participating in the IPL 2024 mini-auction with a base price of Rs 2 crore, although he is sure to attract a much higher bid. Starc has been one of Australia’s best limited-overs bowlers in the recent past and played an instrumental role in their previous two ODI World Cup victories.
White-ball wizard
The tall left-arm pacer has consistently been one of the best white-ball bowlers for Australia. Starc’s ability to extract extra bounce from seemingly lifeless pitches makes him effective in any condition. However, he is most dangerous when the ball is moving around. Starc has admirable control over the ball early in the innings, enabling him to pick up early wickets and put the opposition on the backfoot.
In 2022, Starc became the fastest bowler to reach 200 ODI wickets, achieving this milestone in just 102 matches, surpassing other Australian legends like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. While he ranks third overall in the list of the top wicket-takers in World Cups, he holds the record for the most wickets taken in a single World Cup edition. He claimed this record in the 2019 World Cup, where he took 27 wickets in Australia’s triumphant campaign.
Better with experience
Starc has an excellent limited-overs record in the past two years, picking up 41 wickets in 22 ODI matches. His economy rate in 2022 was the lowest in his career, at 4.26. In 2023, it rose to 6.16. His record in T20Is in 2022 is also impressive, with 13 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 24. He also picked up his career-best bowling figures of 4/20 in 2022. His impressive recent form will be another factor franchises will consider in the auction.
IPL record
Starc has played two IPL seasons, both with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2014, he picked up 14 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 28.71. In 2015, he improved on this record, picking up 20 wickets in 13 matches with an average of just 14.55, including his best figures of 4/15 in 2015.
Teams that could bid for Mitchell Starc
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to bring Starc back into their team. They released Josh Hazelwood before the auction, so they need an overseas pacer to fill that void.
Gujarat Titans will also want to bolster their pace attack after the exit of Hardik Pandya. They have some strong right-arm options in Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma, but they lack a left-arm pace option. They also have a hefty purse of Rs 38.15 crore for the auction, so they might go all out on Starc.
Sunrisers Hyderabad is another team that has a big budget of Rs 34 crore at their disposal. They have a few left-arm pace options, but none of them are as senior as Starc. They had one of their worst seasons in 2023, finishing at the bottom of the table. They won just four matches in the entire season. They also picked up just 76 wickets, which was the second lowest among all teams. Starc’s presence will undoubtedly help them improve on these numbers in 2024.
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