"Welcome To Sunrisers Hyderabad" - David Warner To Mitchell Starc Ahead Of IPL 2020 Auction

Mitchell Starc may not be the part of IPL auction this time but Sunrisers Hyderabad’s senior players seem to be very interested in getting the services of the left-arm pacer. After the end of the first Test against New Zealand, Starc joined David Warner and Kane Williamson for a talk.

Warner, the former captain of SRH, shared the picture on Instagram and welcomed him to the SRH family. Starc had decided to withdraw from the auction for the second consecutive year and will not be part of the event. Here is the photo shared by Warner –

Starc hasn’t played an IPL match since 2015. Despite being absent from the league, he was one of the top picks in IPL 2018 auction as Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for Rs 9.4 Crore. He suffered an injury during the South Africa Test series ahead of IPL and missed the complete season of the T20 tournament.

Starc, along with many other Australian players, did not participate in IPL 2019 to prepare for the World Cup. This year, Australian players have decided to play the league but Starc, surprisingly, decided not to enter the auction.

Despite him staying away from the league for long, he would have been one of the top picks had Starc decided to play the league. With two T20 World Cups lined up to be played in the next two years, Starc’s decision to withdraw from the league does come as a surprise.

Talking of SRH, the one-time champion released five players ahead of the IPL 2020 auction. They have the best squad among all the teams and will again be one of the top contenders to win the trophy. They made it to the playoffs in IPL 2019 but lost the Eliminator to Delhi Capitals. Williamson, who has led the team in past two seasons, will continue to retain the captaincy post.

Though the team will have a new head coach this time around as Tom Moody was replaced by England’s World Cup-winning coach, Trevor Bayliss. He has previously worked with Kolkata Knight Riders and was at the helm of affairs when KKR won the titles in 2012 and 2014.

The auction for the next season of the league takes place on December 19 in Kolkata.