The Indian Premier League Franchise (IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has roped in English pacer Tom Curran as Mitchell Starc’s replacement. Starc had suffered a tibial bone stress in his right leg during Australia’s third Test against South Africa. KKR has bought Curran for his base price of INR 1 cr as opposed to Starc’s INR 9.4 Cr. This is the third successive year that Starc will not be able to feature in the cash-rich league.
According to Surrey’s press release, Curran said: “I’m thrilled and excited to be joining Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL. I know from chatting to other players I can learn a lot from being in that environment, skills that I hope will benefit Surrey and my chances of representing England again this year and if selected, for next year’s World Cup.”
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Alec Stewart, the former England captain who is the director of cricket at Surrey, said: “Losing Tom to the IPL for the first part of the season is not ideal from a Surrey viewpoint. The experience he will gain through playing in the IPL can only help develop his game which in turn will give England a greater chance of winning the 2019 World Cup. His absence from the Surrey team will allow other players on our staff to stand up, perform and grab their opportunity.”
In his international career, Curran has played 6 T20Is claiming 7 wickets. He plays in Natwest T20 Blast for Surrey and has 50 scalps to his name from 53 innings. With the kind of pace and bounce he generates from a pitch, it seems to be a like-for-like replacement from KKR. He made his Test debut during the Ashes last December and has played two Tests, eight ODIs as well.
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Dinesh Karthik-led KKR will face Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match of IPL 2018 on Sunday (April 8).
