‘If Starc can…’: Gavaskar on how pacer can justify his hefty IPL price tag
NEW DELHI: Australian pacer Mitchell Starc‘s monster IPL bid of Rs 24.75 crore from Kolkata Knight Riders came as a surprising move for the cricket fraternity.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also believes that no player is worth that kind of money and said that Starc will have to play out of his skin in the IPL 2024 to justify his hefty pay cheque.”Over the top, to be absolutely frank.I don’t think anybody is worth that kind of money. If Starc can make an impact and win maybe four out of the 14 matches that he plays, then you can say money’s worth. Then if he makes contributions in the other games – absolutely fantastic,” Gavaskar said while speaking to Star Sports.
“He has got to bowl match-winning spells in at least four out of the 14 matches, and maybe the crucial matches against the Mumbai Indians, the Chennai Super Kings and RCB, because these three have top-class batting lineups. Bowl those teams out and you could even then say – money’s worth,” he added.
Starc will make a comeback to the IPL in the upcoming season. Prior to KKR’s high bid, the Australian pacer’s last appearance in an IPL auction was in 2018 when he was sold for Rs 9.4 crore but did not participate in the tournament. Starc’s last actual IPL match took place in 2015.
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The left-arm pacer Starc became the most expensive buy ever in the history of the IPL auction in December last year by breaking his captain Pat Cummins‘s bid of Rs 20.5 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Cummins held the record for barely an hour.
The Australian fast-bowling pair became the first two players to breach the Rs 20cr-mark in salary in the history of the auctions, comfortably clearing Sam Curran’s Rs 18.5cr payout last year.