Australian pacer Mitchell Starc last played in the IPL in 2015 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Since then, he has been skipping the cash-rich league for one or the other reason every season. he did not include his name for the IPL 2021 player auction as well. Starc is one of the most premier pacers in the world and while all his compatriots have chosen to play in the IPL, he has been rather happy to concentrate more on international cricket.
Talking to Cricket.com.au official website, Mitchell Starc has revealed the reason behind IPL 2021 and the IPL over the years in general. Starc talked about his decision to skip IPL and said that he wants to play “as much Shield Cricket” as possible.
I wanted to play as much Shield cricket as I could: Mitchell Starc
“I wanted to play as much Shield cricket as I could. Managing a few little things with the body and wanting to play as much red-ball cricket as I could with certain guys heading off to the IPL, it was my intention to be the constant in the Shield team and hopefully play role there as a senior head in the team,” he told Cricket.com.au.
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In the couple of seasons that he played for RCB, Mitchell Starc picked up 34 wickets in 27 matches and is still RCB’s eighth-highest wicket-taker. Starc bagged a contract worth Rs 9.4 crore with Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2018 but had to pull out due to an injury suffered on the South Africa tour a few weeks before the start of the season.
KKR then roped in Pat Cummins as his replacement for 15.50 crores making him the costliest overseas player in the history of the league ever. Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith bagged contracts with Rs 14 crore and 8 crore, respectively, with Punjab Kings in the IPL 2021 player auctions as well.
IPL 2021 will be played across six venues from April 9 to May 30. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the playoffs and the final.
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