‘He is an X-factor’ – Gautam Gambhir on buying Mitchell Starc for 24.75 crores for KKR in IPL 2024

Kolkata Knight Riders mentor and former captain Gautam Gambhir had recently answered the much awaited question of why KKR spent most of their purse on only one player. KKR bought the Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc for 24.75 Crores in the IPL 2024 auction which made him the most expensive player in IPL history. 

Gautam Gambhir recently addressed the media and spoke about how Starc can be a huge help to the domestic Indian bowlers, and can be a good option to bowl in the play as well as the death overs. While calling him an X factor, Gambhir also discussed how he felt coming back to the KKR franchise after years. 

Gautam Gambhir on bidding for Mitchell Starc in IPL 2024 auction

“He is an X-factor, there is no doubt about that. Someone who can bowl with the new ball, bowl in the death overs and more importantly, someone who can lead the attack. He is going to be of massive help to our two domestic bowlers because both of them are very talented and you need someone to help them out in the middle and Starc covers those bases. It is not only about his bowling but also about leading the attack and helping all guys around him. So, somebody will have to pay for it”, said Gautam Gambhir. 

He further added, “We have a lot of depth in our bowling line-up. We always wanted to have a stronger bowling attack and now we have the options with Mujeeb (Ur Rahman), Gus (Atkinson), Sunil (Narine), Varun (Chakravarthy), and Mitchell Starc along with two Indian seamers and Chetan Sakariya. Now, we have enough options where we can play different combinations looking at the venue as well. For me, it has always been about having a strong bowling line up compared to a very strong batting line up.”

While talking about coming back to KKR he said, “For me, KKR is not a team, it is an emotion. The reason is the amount of love that I have received from the people of Kolkata for seven years that I led them and hopefully, I led them with a lot of honesty. Hopefully, we can recreate the same memories that we did in 2012 and 2014. There is no guarantee that we will go out and win but there is one guarantee for sure, that we will fight till the last drop of our blood.”