‘Always a bit of circus…’: Starc’s blunt ‘IPL’ remark days before joining KKR

Premier Australia paceman Mitchell Starc opened up on returning to the Indian Premier League after missing the last eight seasons. Starc, who last played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014, was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders with a record-breaking bid of INR 24.5 crore in the IPL 2024 players’ auction. The left-arm pacer was also picked by KKR in IPL 2018 but he failed to play a single match for them and withdrew his name as the franchise also decided to release him later.
Starc played only two seasons in IPL – 2014 and 2015 where he led the RCB bowling unit and picked a total of 34 wickets in 27 matches.
The Aussie star talked about his return to the cash-rich league and said he is excited to finally pull on the gold and purple outfit of KKR.
“It’s been 8 years, I think. Back to KKR where I was supposed to be in 2018. So I’ll be back there for the chance to pull on the gold and purple. I guess my memories are a few and far between of back in 2014 and 2015 with RCB but yeah, really excited to get stuck in. Obviously, a new group of players. A bunch of guys I certainly haven’t met or been able to work with before,” Starc told cricket.com.au.
Starc rated IPL as the best T20 league in the world as he is eager to play alongside the players who he has competed against at international level.
“A couple of guys that I’ve, international guys that I’ve played against and come across. Yeah, it’s gonna be exciting. It’s definitely a new challenge. But yeah, it’ll be exciting. It’s always a bit of a circus when it is the best T20 league in the world. So, yeah I look forward to it,” said Starc.
Meanwhile, KKR went on to break the bank to sign Starc in the auction as they fought an intense bidding war with other franchises to sign him for INR 24.5 crore as he became the most expensive player in the league’s history. The two-time IPL champions also brought back their former captain Gautam Gambhir to their coaching staff as the mentor.