Australian pacemaker Mitchell Starc has said he withdrew from the IPL auction at the last minute because he didn’t want to spend another 22 weeks in a bio bubble. “I was a click away from entering the auction, but personally I didn’t want to be in a bubble for another 22 weeks,” said Starc, who won Australia’s men’s cricketer of the year on Saturday. “It will be a time where I would love to go back to the IPL, but in terms of wanting to play for Australia as much as I can, that’s a decision I’ve made for a while,” he was quoted as saying by ‘espn.in’ ‘.
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore player has only appeared in two IPL seasons, taking 37 wickets in 27 matches.
In 2018, he was given a contract of Rs 9.4 crore from Kolkata Knight Riders but had to withdraw due to an injury sustained during the South Africa tour a few weeks before the start of the IPL season.
Starc, 32, had said on Saturday that he was not long before he was about to retire from the sport.
Starc didn’t take the number of wickets expected from a pacer of his caliber. He also leaked a lot of runs on the field and off that he lost his father to cancer.
While Starc managed to keep his cricket going despite a subpar outing against India in the 2020-21 Test series at home, he lost his father to the dreaded disease shortly afterwards.
“It was clear last year was particularly tough on and off the pitch,” Starc had said after winning the Allan Border Medal, the highest individual award in Australian men’s cricket.
Reflecting on the tumultuous stage, he added: “I probably didn’t play the cricket I wanted and at certain stages I probably didn’t want any cricket at all.” The pacer was heavily criticized after taking just 11 wickets at 40.72 in the series against India.
His performance in the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE also left a lot to be desired, with the pacer allowing 60 runs without taking a wicket in his four overs in the final.
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Starc finished the Ashes as one of the key players on the team in England’s 4–0 defeat. He played in all five Ashes Tests, finishing with 19 wickets at an average of 25.37.
He will soon begin preparations for the T20I series against Sri Lanka in mid-February before the Pakistan tour in March.
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