Making a Starc difference: Impact Player rule must take some blame
KKR’s Aussie fast bowler exploited bowler-friendly conditions at Wankhede to hand solid win over Mumbai Indians
On Friday night at the Wankhede Stadium, after flattening Gerald Coetzee’s middle-stump with a searing yorker to take out the final Mumbai Indians wicket, Mitchell Starc broke into wild celebrations letting out a roar while doing a double fist pump. It showed how much his match-winning performance of 4/33 against MI meant to him.
After a lacklustre showing in the tournament, the pressure was on Kolkata Knight Riders’ Australian fast bowler. Coming into the game, he had just seven wickets in eight innings at an economy of 11.78.
But on Friday he returned to doing what the world knows him for – targetting the stumps at pace. When he stepped up to bowl the 19th over, MI needed 32 to win with three wickets in hand, including big-hitting Tim David. It didn’t look good for KKR when David hit the first ball for six to bring the equation down to a gettable 26 off 11 balls.
But Starc grabbed three wickets in four balls to clinch the game. The left-armer had already flattened the leg-stump of opener Ishan Kishan (13) and bowled a brilliant 17th over which went for just three runs, IPL’s most expensive buy having a huge say in the 24-run win.
With his wife Alyssa Healy watching from the stands, the performance and outcome was a huge relief for Starc, after having mostly come out on the wrong side of the battle in the death overs this IPL.
Though he denied it, the weight of the price tag gets to all professionals and Starc has been no exception. Bought for an IPL record ₹24.75 crore at the auction, the returns were not coming. In his previous three games, all played at the Eden Gardens, he had conceded 43 runs in three overs against Delhi Capitals, 55 runs in three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and 50 runs in four against Rajasthan Royals. A death overs specialist, it was a struggle bowling the crucial overs.
Asked how tough it was to pick himself up, Starc said: “Not that hard, I am 34, I have played a lot of cricket.”
“As T20 cricket doesn’t always go the way you want it to, and of course I wanted to go a bit better at the start, but I am not the only bowler going for runs. It is what it is and it’s all tournament play. The fact we sit second and building towards the more important games at the back end and are playing some good cricket, hopefully I can be a part of it too," Starc said at the post-match press conference.
At the Wankhede Stadium, Starc proved it had been more about unhelpful pitch conditions than his form. The Wankhede pitch had something for the bowlers and Starc cashed in.
“I haven’t changed too much. It’s about assessing conditions after the first innings. We spoke about it and the batters that came off throughout that first innings mentioned the wicket and the lengths that were the hardest to face. That created the bowling plans for us.”
One of the most decorated cricketers, having won the T20 and ODI World Cups and the World Test Championship, Starc feels the Impact Player rule has contributed to the bowlers' inflated numbers this IPL season.
“Everyone gets to bat a lot deeper having a batting and a bowling eleven. I guess there’s a lot made of that rule throughout the tournament and there’s been a lot of high scores, which is the nature of the wickets and the grounds we play on. That Impact Player rule has had a fair part to play in that, when you gonna have batters and batting all-rounders come in at 8 or 9, it’s a long batting line-up,” he said. “There’s no fear in the powerplay when all you have do is clear the infield and score runs. Certainly, there has been some really good batting, don’t get me wrong, it’s not just the rules that play a part there.”
Starc said a clearer picture about IPL’s Impact Player rule affecting the scores will emerge at the T20 World Cup. “There’s been some fantastic scoring, some fantastic partnerships and some individual brilliance with the bat. On the flipside, we got the World Cup coming next month, there’s no Impact Player rule. So, whether that affects the scores is yet to be seen. I think it probably will; there’s been people talk about balance of the team, when you can’t just bring someone in. Your all-rounders come back into play, certainly world class all-rounders that balance the team now. Captains have to think a bit tactically too when you have just 11 players,” said Starc.
The World Cup starts barely a week after the IPL final and there is concern whether the players will have enough time to recover. With KKR primed to enter the play-offs – they have 14 points from 10 games – Starc will hope to build on Friday’s performance to get his rhythm, but will also have to handle workload.
“It’s T20 cricket, it’s not as demanding as Test cricket. Physically not a problem and fantastic lead in to play here in the best T20 league in the world. You’re playing some high-quality cricket leading into the World Cup, a lot of players at this tournament are going to be at the World Cup. In that regard it’s a great thing to see and test your skills. In terms of length of time, that’s part and parcel of international cricket. My main focus is in two days’ time (we) play in Lucknow. The World Cup’s next month, at this moment it’s trying to help KKR win the tournament.”
