Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai
Why did Abhishek Sharma take first strike instead of Travis Head in the IPL final? For all of Abhishek’s pyrotechnics, Head is an established international player, a World Cup winner. Yes, the last few games didn’t go well for the Aussie, but it was a big occasion and he should have taken the responsibility. Head passed the onus instead.
Maybe, the carry-over effect from Qualifier 1 made Head apprehensive to face Starc upfront. The latter bosses his Australian teammate in a decade-long duel, but the Qualifier 1 dismissal happened just five days ago and it was fresh in the memory. Sunrisers Hyderabad probably lost the psychological battle even before the start of the match.
The red soil pitch at Chepauk offered bounce and carry for fast bowlers. Starc also found some swing to start with. He instantly hit the right length as well. Soon, he came up with an unplayable delivery — a good length ball that pitched on middle and moved at the last moment to completely square up Abhishek. The off stump was knocked back. The opener walked back to the dug-out dejected. The delivery probably would have gotten any left-hander.
When KKR dished out Rs 24.75 crore for Starc at the auction, eyebrows were raised. The decision looked daft after the 34-year-old conceded 100 runs in his first two games. The team management, though, shut out the outside noise. They were clear in their thought process: The big match player would shine in big games.
🏆Champions of IPL 2024 – The Impeccable Knights@KKRiders #KKR #IPLChampions pic.twitter.com/v3lhttVq19
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) May 26, 2024
A few days ago, in an exclusive interview with RevSportz, KKR CEO Venky Mysore expressed confidence in Starc’s ability, calling him a “champion player” and backing him to shine in crunch games.
As the IPL neared its business end, Starc started to regain his mojo. And in Qualifier 1, he was in his element. He cleaned up Head in the second ball of the match, took two more wickets in his first spell and returned as the Player of the Match.
In the final also, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer gave Starc an extra over inside the Powerplay and the bowler accounted for Rahul Tripathi to put Sunrisers’ top order in disarray. The match was never going to be a tactical battle from there. KKR had the stranglehold.
Starc has done it so many times. The dismissal of Brendon McCullum in the first over of the 2015 World Cup final. The early dismissal of Shubman Gill at the last year’s World Cup final… The champion bowler that he is, Starc saves his best for big occasions.
As KKR won their third IPL title at Chepauk on Sunday, Rs 24.75 crore proved to be value for money.