Mitchell Starc could lose $1.53 million after lawyers claim that the pacer's IPL 2018 injury was not 'unexpected'

Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc may well lose out on the $1.53 million dollar payout for his 2018 Indian Premier League contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders after the opposition lawyers claimed that the leg-injury in 2018- that had ruled him out of the 11th edition of the cash-rich league was not a sudden or unexpected development.

The Shah Rukh Khan-co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders had bought the fiery Australian pacer for a whopping amount of 1.8 million dollars in the 2018 IPL auction. However, Starc sustained an injury during the Test tour of South Africa and was subsequently ruled out of the competition. Starc then proceeded to file a lawsuit in the Victorian County Court against a syndicate of Lloyd’s of London- the long-standing insurance market- where one can opt for the coverage of ‘unique’ circumstances.

Representing the Lloyd’s of London, Clyde, and Co lawyers have denied that the Australian fast bowler “suffered a bodily injury within the meaning of the policy on March 10“, asserting that Mitchell Starc’s injury was a result of the accumulation of a series of accidents and traumas that had occurred before March 10.

Defence says that Mitchell Starc’s injury was not a ‘sudden or unexpected’ event

“Prior to 10 March 2018, the plaintiff placed and accumulated stress upon his right tibial bone by … training for and playing in the first Test … held on 1 to 5 March 2018, training for the second Test … and playing in the first day of the second Test,” the defence stated as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Stars, who has previously played his trade for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore, has maintained that his injury issues began during the second Test between Australia and South Africa on March 10, 2018. His Australian team doctor Richard Shaw also echoed the same, in a statement.

The 30-year-old Starc was eventually released by the Kolkata Knight Riders team-management in November 2018. Star did not feature in the 2019 edition with a view to prepare for the 50-over World Cup in England. He subsequently did not threw his name in the 2020 auctions. His fellow pacer Pat Cummins was the biggest beneficiary of Starc’s decision as he was snapped by the Knight Riders for a whopping sum of Rs 15.5 Crores.