Kolkata Knight Riders’ star pacer Mitchell Starc is having a forgettable Indian Premier League season. The left-arm pacer saw KKR breaking the bank to secure his services ahead of IPL 2024. It was a record sum of Rs 24.75 crore that KKR paid at the auction war to bag Starc. While the price grabbed a lot of eyeballs, Starc failed to live up to the expectations in the first six matches for KKR in IPL 2024. KKR’s match against Rajasthan Royals in Tuesday night at Eden Gardens was no different for Starc as he conceded 50 runs in his four overs without taking any wicket.

Starc has taken only five wickets in the first six matches of IPL 2024 while conceding at an economy of 10.54. In four of the six games, Starc has remained wicketless.

Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop has criticised the pacer for failing to deliver as per the expectations.

“I would assume that Mitchell Starc, especially at that price, hasn’t really hit the nail on its head. He got three wickets last game but tonight (Tuesday) again he would have been hoping to step up. There was this one over, where he was going wide, wide, wide. When you need sixes, I think it’s a good plan. Then you talk about backing yourself – of course there was that five wides, and the short ball which he got hooked for when there was nobody at square, instead of sticking with the wides and make Buttler hit the ball over that side. So yeah, like I said… it’s the little things,” Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo.

Meanwhile, ex-New Zealand star Mitchell McClenaghan, who holds the experience of playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL, felt that Starc is trying to adapt to defensive style of bowling on Indian tracks.

“Two overs in a row, we are talking about the first ball. He has tried to bowl the slower ball, and I think he was trying to bowl a wide slower ball. When you are bowling on these pressure situations, that first ball goes out of the park. And that is a good momentum-starter for the batter. And it not only creates chaos in your mind, but also in the captain’s mind. He is also learning because the game is changing. IPL is a different beast as compared to international cricket. The grounds are so much smaller. Even mishits go for six. I think he is learning to bowl a lot more defensively on Indian grounds,” said McClenaghan.