Star pacers Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Tom Curran are among a total of eight players who have been released by two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders, ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction next month.
Starc had earlier said that his contract was terminated by KKR via a text message. The left-armer was one of the of the most expensive buys in the annual bidding war for the 2018 season at US$1.47 million, but he missed the event after a stress fracture in his lower right leg.
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“I got a text message two days ago from the owners of Kolkata saying I’ve been released from my contract,” Starc told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
Johnson and Curran are the other high-profile casualties who were released by KKR for the next season. The other players to be released are Ishank Jaggi, Apoorv Wankhade, Vinay Kumar, Cameron Delport, and Javon Searles.
While Johnson doesn’t have age on his side, Curran is likely left out because he wouldn’t be a part of the team for the entire length of the tournament.
{{/usCountry}}While Johnson doesn’t have age on his side, Curran is likely left out because he wouldn’t be a part of the team for the entire length of the tournament.
{{/usCountry}}Retainted: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna