Abhishek Sharma is on left and Mitchell Starc on right. (Agencies)Fifth ball of the final Kolkata Knight Riders ace pacer Mitchell Starc delivers a ball that pitches on the middle stump and hits the top off of Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Abhishek Sharma. The opener looked sell-shocked at the way the ball swung. Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram would call the delivery “unplayable.”
KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir would give his take on the delivery by saying. “We were taught there are no unplayable deliveries but it was very close to unplayable the way it swung and hit the top of the off-stump. That delivery had everything a fast bowling coach tells his bowlers,” he said speaking on Sportskeeda.
Starc had an indifferent tournament before the playoffs however, the Aussie played a crucial part in both Qualifier 1 and Final helping KKR win their third title. “You expect a bowler of this quality to bowl this kind of delivery. What could be a bigger occasion than the IPL final and the first over of it? When you bring in players like him they will perform for you when you need the most.” Gambhir would say.
Starc was brought for the highest price in the history of the IPL auction (24.75 crores). However, he started poorly in the first few games for which he received criticism both from experts and social media. “You should not feel bad about it either experts will judge you on your performance it is their profession. Social media will judge you on everything,” Gambhir said.
“I believe how you are made to feel in a dressing room is the most important thing. We never had any doubt that Mitchell Starc could not become an X-factor for us. We believe he will become an X-factor at the right time. His price is irrelevant to us. It is about what Starc adds to us as a player to the team,” he added.
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