New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir, the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), believes acquiring Australia’s fast-bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc for a whopping INR 24.75 crore will also help the side massively in terms of passing on crucial learnings to the domestic fast-bowlers.
On Tuesday, Starc became the IPL’s most expensive player ever, taking over the tag from his Australia captain Pat Cummins in less than two hours at the auction, as Kolkata spent more than 75% of their purse at the auction.
Starc has played only two seasons of the IPL in 2014 and 2015 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and was slated to play for KKR in 2018, but pulled out due to a leg injury. “He is an X-factor, there is no doubt about that. Someone who can bowl with the new ball, bowl in the death overs and more importantly, someone who can lead the attack.”
“He is going to be of massive help to our two domestic bowlers because both of them are very talented and you need someone to help them out in the middle and Starc covers those bases. It is not only about his bowling but also about leading the attack and helping all guys around him. So, somebody will have to pay for it,” said Gambhir to JioCinema.
At the auction, KKR also picked Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, England pacer Gus Atkinson and India left-arm fast-bowler Chetan Sakariya. “We have a lot of depth in our bowling line-up. We always wanted to have a stronger bowling attack and now we have the options with Mujeeb (Ur Rahman), Gus (Atkinson), Sunil (Narine), Varun (Chakravarthy), and Mitchell Starc along with two Indian seamers and Chetan Sakariya.”