Australian pacer Mitchell Starc finally opens up on the reason why he hasn’t been participating in the cash-rich league – IPL.
Many cricketers all around the world who meets the eligibility will register for the IPL auction and hopes for any of the team to pick them up. IPL will pay a massive amount for the players who feature in the league.
Mitchell Starc on his Absence From IPL
In the recently concluded IPL 2023 Auction, Punjab Kings spent a massive INR 18.5 crores to bag Sam Curran and made him the most expensive player in IPL history. Players might not dare to skip the IPL owing to its massive pay. But many players opt to skip the league in order to focus on their national team.
One such player is Australia’s Mitchell Starc. He has played two seasons in the IPL for RCB during 2014 and 2015 and had a pretty good record in the league. The left-arm pacer played 27 matches and picked up 34 wickets over the course of the two seasons.
While many rumoured about the reason for his exclusion from the tournament, Starc himself opened the reason.
“To choose not to do certain things to prolong playing for Australia, I’ve tried to be smart about that,” Starc, who has played only two editions of the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), told cricket.com.au.
“Yeah, the money’s nice, but I’d love to play 100 Test matches. Whether I get there or not, I don’t know, but that would be a nice one to tick off. Hopefully, there’s a little bit left in me.” The 33-year-old left-arm pacer has so far appeared in 77 Tests, taking 306 wickets at an average of 27.52 since making his debut in 2011. He also played 110 ODIs and 58 T20s, snapping 219 and 73 wickets respectively.
“To play three formats for over 10 years, it’s been a lot of pain along the way, but I’m grateful I’ve gotten that far. Whilst I’ve tried to add to the bow, as soon as I lose air speed, there’s going to be someone chasing me.
“Once that next left-armer is coming through, yeah, I’m sure I’ll know when I know.” Starc had received a lot of flak for his unflattering performance in the last few years with the late Shane Warne even questioning his place in the team.
“That (media criticism) might have bothered me a few years ago, but I’ve certainly settled on a happy place where it doesn’t bother me anymore,” he said.
“If that’s what people think, that’s what they think … if I’m the whipping boy sometimes, that’s fine.
“I’m certainly more comfortable in my own skin. Perspective is everything and one of the biggest contributors to perspective is going through those tough times.”
Mitchell Starc currently plays in the WTC 2023 final in Kennington Oval, London against India.
