Brad Hogg confident of THIS top Australian player not being picked at IPL 2021 auction

It has been four years since Australian speedster Mitchell Starc last made an appearance in the Indian Premier League. Starc has been either injured or busy with national commitments ever since his stint with Bangalore in 2016 but is tipped to make a comeback into the fold for the IPL 2021 auction. However, as opposed to Starc making himself unavailable, the question this time around is whether any team still wants to take a chance on the injury-prone Aussie. Opinions so far have been divided, with Australian great Brad Hogg taking the pessimistic route.

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Brad Hogg predicts no bidders for Mitchell Starc at IPL 2021

After sitting out the 2020 edition of the IPL in order to prepare for the now postponed ICC T20 World Cup and then using the time to hone his red-ball skills, Mitchell Starc failed to deliver as much as was promised in the recently concluded India vs Australia series. The 30-year-old pacer managed just one wicket for an expensive 147 runs in the two ODIs he played and 2 for 34 in the sole T20I game. He started off his Border-Gavaskar trophy in style, taking 4 for 53 in the first innings of the first Test at Adelaide but finished the series with just 11 wickets. He has currently not played in the ongoing BBL 2021. 

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Despite having fairly decent figures of 34 wickets from 27 matches in the IPL, Starc's place in the cash-rich league is not a done deal yet. Provided that he makes himself available for this edition of the tournament, former Australian cricketer and IPL veteran, Brad Hogg believes that Starc may not have any takers at the IPL 2021 auction. Without providing a reason, the Aussie allrounder simply replied to a tweet saying that he doesn't see any team bidding for Starc on February 18, when the auction takes place in Chennai.

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This is in stark opposition to the views of many other sportspersons like Aakash Chopra who believes that Bangalore will "run after" Starc if he makes himself available, especially with senior bowler Dale Steyn pulling out of the tournament this season. Starc has been included in the Australian squad for the South Africa vs Australia 2021 Test series but as per Ricky Ponting, will have to fight for a place in the playing XI in the presence of Pat Cummins and Hazlewood. There will also be some injury concerns surrounding Starc after captain Tim Paine hinted that an injury may have prevented him from bowling at his best in the last two Tests in Australia. 

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Image Credits: AP