Veteran pacer Mitchell Starc revealed that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) management did not notify him of his release before the retention list deadline on October 31. The IPL’s record signing played a key role in KKR’s title-winning campaign in 2024, marking their return to the competition after nine years.
Under new guidelines, franchises could retain up to six players before the mega-auction. KKR decided to keep Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy, leading to the release of players like skipper Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Starc back into the auction pool.
Starc’s comeback to the IPL was motivated by the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup. The Indian T20 league offered an excellent platform for preparation, prompting players like Travis Head and Pat Cummins to enter the previous auction as well.
“I still haven’t heard from them. It is what it is, that’s franchise cricket, so all barring the Hyderabad boys (Pat Cummins and Travis Head) will be in the auction,” Starc told the Daily Telegraph.
Mitchell Starc took 17 wickets during the 2024 season, featuring crucial performances in the playoffs and the final.
“Clearly, the number of retentions seems low”- KKR CEO Venky Mysore discussed the decision to release Starc and others
KKR CEO Venky Mysore noted they would have preferred to retain most of their squad following one of the most successful seasons in IPL history.
“Obviously the number of retentions do feel less, because we first build a squad and try to put all pieces in place in order to compete.”
“And when you compete, and particularly in our case, thankfully, we won our third championship, and after that, it becomes even more difficult, because you really want to keep the squad that you have carefully built, who are also the defending champions,” Venky Mysore said in a statement
With six players retained, KKR has used their RTM options and will enter the IPL auction with a budget of ₹51 crore.
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