Australian pacer Mitchell Starc had pulled out of IPL 2021 before the auctions. He last played in the Indian tournament in 2015. Though KKR picked him in the 2018 edition, Starc was ruled out due to injuries.
Mitchell Starc is one of the leading fast bowlers going around in world cricket. He has been Australia’s premier fast bowler in all three formats of the game for a long time now. Despite that, the 31-year-old left-arm fast bowler has been away from the IPL for more than five seasons now.
Starc has only played two seasons of the IPL, which was for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2014 and 2015. In 27 IPL games, he has returned with 34 wickets at an average of 20.38 and an economy rate of 7.17. He put his name up in the IPL auction for the 2018 season and was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). But injuries ruled him out of that season, and since then, he has never put his name in the auctions as well.
Rumours were going around that Starc might register for the auction this time around but didn’t. But when quizzed on why he pulled out of this year’s IPL, the New South Wales fast bowler revealed that he wanted to play as much Sheffield Shield and red-ball cricket as possible. He intends to play the senior bowler’s role for his state side when the other bowlers go away for the IPL. Moreover, he has an ambition of playing a Sheffield Shield final.
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 the role there as a senior head in the team.
I haven’t played in a Shield final yet, I’d love to help the boys get there and take part and hopefully be a part of the group to win the Shield. That was my first intention. I’ve played three formats for a long time, and I find my game plan doesn’t change too much across the formats but still, Shield and Test match cricket is the pinnacle for me,
Starc explained while talking to cricket.com.au.
