"To be frank..." - Sunil Gavaskar's blunt verdict on Mitchell Starc's acquisition by KKR for INR 24.75 crore

Former India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Kolkata Knight Riders’ thinktank for splashing a crazy amount of money on senior Australia pacer Mitchell Starc during the mini player auction for IPL 2024 last December at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai in what was the Australian’s first auction appearance since the 2018 edition.

Mitchell Starc was expected to generate a lot of interest at the auction table but very few were expecting him to walk away with a deal that will make him the most expensive entity in the Indian Premier League auction. His national team captain Pat Cummins had become the costliest buy momentarily before Starc’s name was put up by the auctioneer.

Cummins bagged a deal worth INR 20.50 crore in the capped bowlers slot. The Sunrisers Hyderabad had to get involved in a bidding war with franchises like Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore among others to get the signature of the marquee Australian for IPL 2024.

Moments after his acquisition by SRH, Mitchell Starc entered the fray and a lot of franchise owners showed interest in him before Gautam Gambhir-mentored Kolkata Knight Riders bagged his services for IPL 2024 by splashing INR 24.75 crore.

That triggered plenty of reactions from fans across social media platforms and also agitated a few cricket pundits in the country. Sunil Gavaskar has become the latest to react to KKR’s outrageous offer for Mitchell Starc.

Gavaskar claimed that KKR made an over-the-top kind of decision to get the 2-time Cricket World Cup winner and also stated that his price will be justified only if he is able to contribute to the team in winning causes.

“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,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He Has Got To Bowl Match-Winning Spells”, Sunil Gavaskar Opines On How Mitchell Starc Can Contribute For KKR

The 74-year-old who regularly appears for media duty during India’s cricket matches, affirmed Mitchell Starc to bowl match-winning spells in at least 4 league matches if not in all 14 matches in IPL 2024. Gavaskar also said that Starc must make it a habit to perform well against top teams like Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“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,” Gavaskar concluded.

KKR Full Squad for IPL 2024: Mitchell Starc, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atiknson, Shakib Hussain, Chetan Sakariya, KS Bharat, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer (c), Jason Roy, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakaravarthy.