Image Credit- AFP
The main subplot for
Friday night’s match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight
Riders is probably going to be the match between Mitchell Starc and Virat
Kohli.
Playing in his first IPL since 2015, Starc was a member of the RCB team under
Kohli’s leadership. Despite Starc’s 2014 first season with RCB, the two have
never faced off in the IPL.
“I quite like [Starc’s] match-up to Virat, the ability to swing the ball
back down the line as a lefty,” Steven Smith, one of the experts on
ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut during IPL 2024, said on the show on the eve of the RCB
vs KKR match. “We have seen him [Kohli] get out on a few occasions to
Shaheen Afridi, Trent Boult, Mohammad Amir. In the first game against Punjab
Kings, Kohli had an opportunity off Sam Curran dropped at slip. So I quite like
the left-handed match-up.”
When Kohli hadn’t
made a run against the Kings, Jonny Bairstow knocked him down as he attempted a
drive away from the body off Curran. Kohli proceeded to knock 77 from 49 balls,
winning the match. Despite 412 runs being scored, Starc’s IPL 2024 debut against
Sunrisers Hyderabad finished with a lacklustre 0 for 53.
Smith, who has led Starc in 58 of his 187 matches played for Australia across
all forms, believes that Starc would likely attempt to steal Kohli’s edge while
angling it away faster than Curran did.
“Starcy’s going to swing the ball back down the line early on, I’d
imagine, and then use the wobble seam to go across him [Kohli], and potentially
try and nick him off,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a good game, and
I’m aware Virat would know how Starc’s trying to attack him as well – whether
he tries to potentially come down the track [to] just take the swing out of
play [we’ll see]. It’s going to be interesting to see how he counters it.”
Kohli has faced 28
deliveries from Starc in T20 cricket for India and for RCB in the now-defunct
Champions League, despite the fact that they have never squared off in the IPL.
Kohli hammered Starc for 47 runs in three duels without giving up a single wicket.
In all T20 matches, Kohli averages 31.53 against left-arm pace and has 52
dismissals.
“You obviously
learn as you go along, and you understand what players are trying to do to try
and get you out,” Smith said of Kohli. “I’m sure he would have seen
that [data], and tried to improve on that throughout. So it’s going to be a nice
match-up.”