Sunil Gavaskar slams KKR over buying star bowler in IPL 2024 auction

Mitchell Starc will be back playing the Indian Premier League (IPL) after almost 8 years. The Aussie pace star will be playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Kolkata-based club paid a heavy amount of 24.75 crore INR to acquire the Australian seamer. They spent ₹31.35 crore to buy 10 players at the December auction last year. 

Starc took 34 wickets with an economy rate of 7.17 in 27 games for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 2014 and 2015 Indian Premier League seasons. He hasn't competed in the prestigious competition in the previous eight seasons and hopes to make an impression when he returns. The KKR won the title in 2012 and 2014 but since then they are yet to win the trophy. The Knights have brought back their former captain Gautam Gambhir as the mentor and would like to bring back their glory days. 

Starc will spearhead the attack and will also warm-up for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. During a Star Sports interview, Gavaskar was questioned about his thoughts on the KKR spending a fortune to get Starc. 

 I don't think anybody is worth that kind of money: Mitchell Starc

Gavaskar stated, "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."

"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." 

Irfan Pathan also stated, that, in addition to Mitchell Starc, KKR has a handful of young and excellent Indian fast bowlers. However, he admitted that the franchise will rely significantly on Starc regardless of the terms on offer.