Mitchell Starc will be X-factor for KKR in IPL 2024, claims mentor Gautam Gambhir

Mitchell Starc was bought by KKR for a whopping Rs 24.75 crores at the IPL 2024 mini-auction.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season will mark the return of 2007 World T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) dugout after the 2017 edition. The former KKR captain Gambhir, led the side from 2011 to 2017, helping the Kolkata-based franchise win the title twice during this period.

This time, the former Indian opener will don the KKR jersey as a mentor and hope the Shreyas Iyer-led KKR can reach glory for the third time in the league’s history. The 17th edition of the IPL will see return of many international stars.

Players like Rishabh Pant, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer will take part in the upcoming showpiece event after missing the IPL 2023. However, one of the most talked-about comebacks will be around Mitchell Starc, who will be returning to the league for the first time since 2015.

Starc, who fetched a record-breaking amount at the IPL 2024 auction table, became the second player in history to cross the Rs 20 crores bid ay the showpiece event. The Australian pacer left his teammate and ODI World Cup 2023-winning captain Pat Cummins behind to break the bank and land a successful bid of Rs 24.75 crores by KKR.

The left-arm fast bowler hasn’t played any IPL games since 2015, but Starc was in the eyes of Gambhir during the 2023 mini-auction, and before the start of the prestigious tournament, former KKR skipper’s expectations from the most-expensive IPL player are crystal clear.

“I had already said on the auction table that he [Starc] is an X-factor and I am sure he is going to deliver. And there’s no such pressure of a price tag. I hope that what he has done in international cricket, he can do the same for KKR,” Gambhir was reported as saying by media outlets upon his arrival in Kolkata on Thursday.

It’s an emotion for me: Gautam Gambhir on returning back to KKR

The former Indian cricketer also opened up saying that KKR is not a franchise, but for him, it’s an emotion. Gambhir added that he will try his level best to make Kolkata proud, and he wants to live up to the expectations all KKR fans.

“KKR is not a franchise, it’s an emotion for me. I hope I live up to the expectation, and I am sure we’ll try and make Kolkata proud and that’s what we are going to do,” added Gambhir.

KKR updated squad for IPL 2024:

Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer (c), Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain.

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