IPL 2022 | Participation in IPL is certainly on the table, reveals Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc has revealed that he is considering putting his name in the mega auction ahead of the 15th edition of the IPL. Starc represented Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2014 and 2015 seasons of IPL, and scalped 34 wickets from 27 matches at an economy rate of 7.16 and a strike rate of 17.
IPL 2022 will be a more exciting competition with 10 teams in contention for the title and a mega auction ahead of the 15th edition of the cash-rich league. Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchise will begin their journey in the lucrative league from the upcoming season of the IPL. The IPL franchises, who were part of the previous seasons have already submitted their final retentions ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Meanwhile, Australian pacer, Mitchell Starc revealed that he is considering participation in IPL 2022. The 31-year-old further added that participating in the upcoming edition of IPL will help him to prepare well for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
"I've got two days to get my paperwork in so that might be something I do today before training. I've not put my name down just yet, but I've got a couple more days to decide on that. It's certainly on the table, regardless of the schedule coming up. I haven't been for six years or so,” Starc said on Wednesday.
"With obviously a heavy weighting towards T20s over the last period of time and the World Cup coming up later this year, that's one to take into consideration," he added.
Starc has played only two seasons of the IPL, representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015. The Australian speedster clinched 34 wickets from 27 matches at an economy rate of 7.16 and a strike rate of 17 for the Bangalore-based franchise. Starc missed the last six editions of the cash-rich league either due to injury or workload management as he is an all-format player for Australia.
Australia are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series and one-off T20I at home against New Zealand after the conclusion of the ongoing Ashes 2021-2022. The T20 World Cup 2021 champions will then play a five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in February. Following the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, Australia will tour Pakistan for three Tests, three ODIs and one T20I. Australia are also scheduled to visit Sri Lanka for a Test and limited-overs tour in June and July, and an all-format player, who features in the IPL, will have no break until August.
Starc reckoned that the future schedule is jam-packed and he will also consider that while deciding upon his participation in the IPL.
"The schedules are quite jam-packed, when you throw in all the tours, obviously we've got a couple of white-ball series post the Ashes before that Pakistan tour," Starc said. "Then you take in consideration the IPL, then a Sri Lankan tour after that, so it's a massive six months of cricket for everyone, but certainly for those multi-format players,” Starc said.
"We had a bit of a briefing the other day about the upcoming tour [of Pakistan]. I think it'll take some time for all players to process that information. And then obviously, we've got a Test match this week to play and perform in and then we'll move on to what comes next," he added.