Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir believes while there is no such thing as an ‘unplayable’ delivery, he feels that Mitchell Starc managed to fire one in the IPL 2024 final against SunRisers Hyderabad. KKR pacer Starc bowled the ball of the tournament to dismiss SRH opener Abhishek Sharma in the IPL 2024 final last week. While Starc had a below par season with the ball for KKR, he managed to perform in the key matches for KKR, including the final.
KKR bought the veteran Australian pacer for INR 24.75 crore at the auction, making him the costlies ever buy in the IPL.
During a recent interaction, Gambhir labelled Starc as an X-factor, saying that players like him save their best for the big games.
“We always knew he was the X-Factor and he will become one at the right time. I mean, what other big matches could be there in the IPL? It was the Qualifier 1 and the Final. That is why I say that the big players wait for such occasions, they thrive on these occasions. Money is irrelevant. What Starc brings to the team was more important,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.
Starc’s out-swinger to Abhishek in the IPL 2024 final kickstarted the downfall of SRH, who were bowled out for 113 after batting first. Gambhir termed the delivery as nearly ‘unplayable’.
“You expect a bowler of this quality to bowl this kind of a delivery. When you bring these kinds of players, they step up when you need them the most. KKR needed Mitchell Starc in the Qualifier 1 and the Final, and he put his hand up and he delivered. I don’t know whether I should say that was an unplayable delivery or not, because we were taught that no delivery is unplayable, but it was certainly very close to unplayable,” he added.
SRH was magnificent at the business end of the tournament as he ended up with 17 wickets, including five in the two knock-out games, to engineer a dominant title-triumph for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team.
He was named Player of the Match in the final as KKR lifted their third IPL trophy, and first after a decade’s wait.
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