Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are all set to part ways with Australian pacer Mitchell Starc ahead of IPL 2025 auction. The fiery southpaw remains to date the highest-buy in the IPL history, with KKR spending a whooping dRs 24.75 cr for the pacer. However, it looks like Starc’s time with the defending champions is about to come to an end as the team braces for a shake-up in the mega auction.
KKR to release Mitchell Starc ahead of IPL 2025 auction
As per ESPNCricinfo, KKR is unlikely to retain Mitchell Starc ahead of IPL 2025 auction. Starc made his return to the IPL in the mini-auction towards the end of 2023. Knight Riders went all gins blazing while bidding for the Australian and ended up paying him Rs 24.75 cr, more than what Australian World Cup winning captain Pat Cummins fetched. Starc was not worth all the money and the hype, as he ended up with 17 wickets to his name from 14 matches in IPL 2024. In fact, uncapped Harshit Rana overshadowed the Australian’s costly price tag with his 19 wicket tally in the season.
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Starc made his return to IPL oin 2024 for the first time since 2015 and had left everyone hyped, given that KKR had broken their bank to bag the star in the mini-auction. However, his performance was not upto the expectations. Understandably, the Australian signed up to participate in the IPL simply because he wanted to gear up for the T20 World Cup that followed. Barring a 3/34 in Qualifier 1 and 2/14 in the final, Starc failed to deliver upto the expectation of critics and fans in the previous season.
Meanwhile, the report also states that KKR is unlikely to retain skipper Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Andre Russell. Instead, the team is eyeing to retain Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh and Harshit Rana.
