Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Mitchell Starc, bought for INR 24.75 crore in the auction, received a brutal bashing as he came up against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. Starc conceded 53 runs in his quota of 4 overs while failing to pick a single wicket. In comparison, young KKR star Harshit Rana bagged 3 wickets for 33 runs in his spell of 4 overs. Only Varun Chakravarthy, 55 runs in 4 overs for 1 wicket, suffered a bigger bashing than Starc in the match. The Australia pacer, recognised as one of the finest in the world, was expected to emerge as a match-winner but his embarrassing show with the ball resulted in a meme-fest on social media instead.
Asked to bowl the 19th over by KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer, Starc ended up leaking 26 runs, with Heinrich Klaasen and Shahbaz Ahmed taking the left-arm pacer to the cleaners. Fans didn't hesitate in brutally trolling Starc, questioning the ‘world record' fee of INR 24.5 crore that the franchise paid for him. Here are some reactions:
KKR have Andre Russell to thank for their 4-run victory in the match despite Starc's morale-shattering performance with the ball.
Iyer, after the match, admitted that he had butterflies in his stomach since the 17th over as the match turned out to be a nail-biter.
“Right from the 17th over, had butterflies in my stomach. Felt anything could happen in the last over. They needed 13 runs and we didn't have the most experienced bowler. But I had the belief in him, and I told him to back himself and it doesn't matter what happens. He was a bit nervous coming in, and I just looked him in the eye and told him 'this is your moment, buddy.'
“Told him to back himself and doesn't matter what happens in the game. (On Russell and Narine) They have such experience. Great to see Andre perform with bat and ball, and even Sunny (Narine) was splendid with the ball. Fantastic to have them around. Always gives you motivation when you start with a win.
“This game also gives us a lot of learnings, there is a lot we will take from this ground. I think fielding is an area we need to improve on. It was so loud out there, it was difficult to signal to the other players from the deep,” he said.