IPL 2018: KKR announces Mitchell Starc's replacement

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are already battling through injuries before the start of the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They were severely jolted by an injury to Mitchell Starc who suffered a tibial bone stress to his right leg and was subsequently ruled out of the T20 extravaganza. He was bought by the franchise for a whopping amount of Rs 9.4 Crores. However, they have announced the replacement for the Australian left-arm seamer ahead of the tournament.

KKR had retained the likes of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine in the player retention event while they picked Chris Lynn in the auction. While Russell and Lynn have injury cloud over them, Narine was recently reported for illegal bowling action in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League (PSL). Dinesh Karthik, the skipper, has a huge task at his hands to shuffle his troops during the IPL as it is a big tournament.

Who is the replacement?

Kolkata Knight Riders have picked the young England bowler Tom Curran as the replacement for Mitchell Starc for the upcoming season of the IPL. It looks to be a smart by the team management as Curran has done well recently for England while playing in the shorter formats. He was the pick of the bowlers for them in Australia and New Zealand during the ODI series. He nailed his yorkers perfectly and varied his pace cleverly to keep the batsmen guessing all the time.

Curran so far has featured in 6 T20 Internationals for his national side and has picked 7 at a strike rate of 18. Moreover, in 51 T20s he has played the youngster has scalped 53 wickets at an economy rate of 8.25 which is decent given the fact that he bowls all the tough overs more often than not. He is also a decent bet with the bat and has a half-century to his name in the shortest format of the game scoring 362 runs at a strike rate of 128.36.

Delighted Tom Curran said as per quotes on Kiaoval.com, “I’m thrilled and excited to be joining Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL. I know from chatting to other players I can learn a lot from being in that environment, skills that I hope will benefit Surrey and my chances of representing England again this year and if selected, for next year’s World Cup.”

“I want to thank Alec Stewart and everyone at Surrey County Cricket Club for supporting my ambitions and allowing me this great opportunity. I can’t wait to represent Surrey again when I return, hopefully with a few more tricks up my sleeve,” he concluded.

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