IPL 2018 | Tom Curran replaces Mitchell Starc in Kolkata Knight Riders squad
English pacer Tom Curran has signed up for Kolkata Knight Riders to replace the injured Mitchell Starc ahead of the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League. Starc's injury had left the two-time Champions without a strike bowler but Curran could ease the minds of the KKr faithful.
The injury-prone Mitchell Starc is set to miss out the IPL once again after his recent setback, that occurred in South Africa ahead of their fourth Test versus the Proteas, last week. According to Cricinfo, 23-year old Tom Curran has been roped in by the KKR management team in order to add some variety to the bowling attack and replace the injured Aussie.
Curran was a big hit in his first T20I match where he picked up a wicket on just a second delivery. The youngster does lack the pace that Starc brought to the KKR team, but he possesses all the skills to to be extremely efficient in the death overs. His back-of-the-hand slower delivery and accurate yorkers helped the youngster pick up his maiden five-wicket haul versus Australia in January.
Curran is a decent lower-order batsman as well, with a strike-rate of 128 accumulated over 51 T20s, and the highest score of 51*. Curran is the 11th player from England to take part in the league after Alex Hales was recruited by Sunrisers Hyderabad two days ago.
Curran will add more firepower to the young fast-bowling unit in the Knight Riders squad alongside Under-19 World Cup winners Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh