Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 27 : Following Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League 2024 Final, left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc hailed the young uncapped Indian seamer Harshit Rana for his outstanding bowling performance in the 17th edition of the cash-rich league.
Harshit was the fourth-highest wicket-taker this season. The 22-year-old took 19 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 20.15, with the best figures of 3/24. Starc also did well for KKR. The big buy of the franchise, worth Rs 24.75 crores and the most expensive IPL player ever, picked up momentum in the back end of the tournament. In the playoffs stage, when the team needed him to be at his best the most, Starc picked up five wickets across the qualifier one and final, including a three-fer in the qualifier one against SRH.
The World Cup-winning player said that Harshit had some good matches this season and also bowled in tough situations.
"We had a hugely talented bowling group this season with youngsters like Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Chetan Sakariya. Harshit had some good matches this season and has bowled in tough situations. He's only gonna improve from a season he had," Starc said in the post-match press conference.
The Australian cricketer further stated that throughout this IPL, the right-arm pacer has learned what his skills are capable of.
"Harshit is learning what his skills are capable of throughout this IPL. He seems pretty confident in his abilities. He started his season with the second-best team in this season (SRH). The right-arm seamer has bowled some tough overs and also crucial last overs and has taken a good amount of wickets this season as well," the left-arm pacer asserted
In the end, Starc concluded by speaking on the Chennai pitch. He said there was a bit of swing at the start for both sides.
"The Chennai pitch was quite different as compared to other grounds in IPL 2024. There was a bit of swing for both sides at the start. There was less turn as compared to the game between SRH-RR in the Qualifier 2. We bowled fantastically well to keep the SRH side below 120," the 34-year-old player concluded.
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