Not wanting to spend 22 weeks in bio-bubble, Starc opts out of IPL auction

“I
was
a
click
of
the
button
away
from
entering
the
auction
but
personally
didn’t
want
to
spend
22
more
weeks
in
a
bubble,”
said
Starc,
who
won
Australia’s
men’s
cricketer
of
the
year
award
on
Saturday.

“They’ll
be
a
time
where
I’d
love
to
go
back
to
the
IPL
but
in
terms
of
wanting
to
play
as
much
as
I
can
for
Australia
that’s
a
decision
I’ve
done
for
a
while,”
he
was
quoted
as
saying
by
‘espn.in’.

The
former
Royal
Challengers
Bangalore
player
has
only
featured
in
two
IPL
seasons,
bagging
37
wickets
in
27
matches.
In
2018,
he
was
handed
Rs
9.4
crore
contract
by
Kolkata
Knight
Riders
but
he
had
to
pull
out
due
to
an
injury
suffered
on
the
South
Africa
tour
a
few
weeks
before
the
start
of
the
IPL
season.

The
32-year-old
Starc
had
said
on
Saturday
that
not
long
before
he
was
on
the
verge
of
quitting
the
sport.
Starc
was
not
taking
the
number
of
wickets
expected
of
a
pacer
of
his
calibre.
He
was
also
leaking
plenty
of
runs
on
the
field
and,
off
it,
he
was
losing
his
father
to
cancer.

While
Starc
managed
to
keep
his
cricket
going
despite
a
below-par
outing
against
India
in
the
2020-21
Test
series
at
home,
he
lost
his
father
to
the
dreaded
disease
soon
after.
“Obviously
last
year
was
particularly
tough
on
and
off
the
field,”
Starc
had
said
after
winning
the
Allan
Border
Medal,
the
highest
individual
award
in
Australian
men’s
cricket.

Looking
back
at
the
tumultuous
phase,
he
added,
“I
probably
didn’t
play
the
cricket
I
wanted
to
and,
at
certain
stages,
I
probably
didn’t
want
to
play
cricket
at
all.”

The
pacer
was
heavily
criticised
after
he
took
just
11
wickets
at
40.72
in
the
series
against
India.
His
performance
in
the
ICC
T20
World
Cup
in
the
UAE
too
left
a
lot
to
be
desired,
with
the
pacer
conceding
60
runs
without
taking
a
wicket
in
his
four
overs
in
the
final.

Starc
ended
the
Ashes
as
one
of
the
team’s
key
performers
in
its
4-0
drubbing
of
England.
He
played
in
all
the
five
Ashes
Tests
and
finished
with
19
wickets
at
an
average
of
25.37.
He
will
shortly
start
preparations
for
the
T20I
series
against
Sri
Lanka
in
mid-February
before
the
tour
of
Pakistan
in
March.