Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes veteran Australian pacer Mitchell Starc will fetch a high price in the IPL 2024 auction and raised his concern about the left-arm pacer’s availability to the team after being picked up by the team in the auction. The Veteran pacer last played in the cash-rich league in 2015 for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Mitchell Starc is one of the few generational players who has been away from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for several years as he prioritized the country over franchise cricket. The left-arm speedster has only played two seasons in the tournament, both for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2014-15, and is keen on returning to the league ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Speaking on his Sports18, Aakash Chopra believes that the Australian pacer would fetch a big amount in the upcoming auction, with the franchises having a limited number of players up for grabs and that the Left-arm pacer has done an excellent job for the club with both new and old ball.
“It’s a million-dollar question and he will take a million dollars as well. I am saying AUD (Australian dollars) will take the most money after INR (Indian rupees). In fact, more money might go to AUD than INR in this auction because you don’t have too many Indian players in the auction.”
“Whoever plays in Australia has registered his name and Mitchell Starc is the most discussed name in that. What does Mitchell Starc bring? He is a gun bowler with the new ball and does amazingly well at the death. His IPL numbers are very good, performed very well when he played for RCB,” Mitchell Starc said.
Over the last decade, Mitchell Starc has undoubtedly been the world’s best white-ball bowler. He is one of the few bowlers who has perfected the skill of getting wickets in all phases of the game. The Left-arm pacer has 34 wickets from 27 IPL games, 20 of which came in 2015.
Mitchell Starc Won’t Come When The Tournament Is About To Start – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra also questioned Mitchell Starc’s commitment to play in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, claiming personal issues and playing for the nation as reasons for his absence.
“However, he has cheated teams so many times after that. Cheating is not a word you should use lightly but that’s what you feel when you bid for him and he says that he won’t come when the tournament is about to start because he wants to focus on the Ashes or the World Cup, or has some personal issues,” Mitchell Starc added.
Due to injury and workload management, the left-arm pacer hasn’t played in the tournament since 2015, when he played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and many teams would have their eye on the Australian pacer given his experience in T20 Cricket.