Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc is all set to take legal action to get his $1.53 million from his Indian Premier League (IPL) contract last year after he was injured during the controversial Test series in South Africa. The 29-year-old fast bowler filed a lawsuit in the Victoria County Court just last week. It has been against the insurers of his deal with the KKR during last year of the world’s most sought after T20 tournaments.
Mitchell Starc was bought for a whopping price of $1.8 million by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last year auctions. However, it couldn’t quite turn out the way as Mitchell Starc and KKR would have liked as the speedster was declared unavailable for the whole length of the tournament. Mitchell Starc’s price tag was bettered by his countrymen Chris Lynn who was bought for $1.86 million.
During the horrendous tour of South Africa, Mitchell Starc sustained a calf injury during the 2nd Test in Port Elizabeth before sustaining a fracture on his right tibial bone during the 3rd and the most ill-fated Test in Cape Town.
Starc stated that he sustained the injury because there were several uneven footmarks on a worn out pitch. “While bowling on uneven footmarks on a worn wicket, the plaintiff suffered a sudden onset of pain in his right calf. The pain worsened over the next few bowling sessions and during the next Test match,” the court statement said.
“Ultimately, the injury resulted in the plaintiff missing the final Test match of the tour and him being listed by the Australian Cricketers Association and Cricket Australia as injured by reason of tibial bone stress. The injury that the plaintiff suffered was a grade three tibial injury which involved a fracture in his right tibial bone,” the statement added.
As per court documents, Mitchell Starc made a policy that would pay him $1.53 million benefits if he misses the IPL owing to injury. Starc’s lawyer Mills Oakley is filing a syndicate of Llyod’s of London. It is the insurance market which has been in the run for a long time.
“The writ states Starc paid a premium of $97,920 to be covered between February 27 and March 31 in 2018, when the tournament ended. On March 10, Starc claims he started feeling pain in his right calf while bowling during the second Test in Port Elizabeth,” the statement said.