Gambhir backs under-fire Starc to succeed soon

Kolkata, april 13

Mitchell Starc’s poor returns with the ball this IPL “does not make him a bad bowler”, Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor Gautam Gambhir said today while laying emphasis on the team’s success over individual brilliance.

The Australian left-arm quick, who is the costliest buy of the IPL at Rs 24.75 crore, has so far taken just two wickets at an average of 77 and has leaked 11 runs per over across four matches.

“It (his poor stats) doesn’t matter, T20 cricket is all about bowlers getting smashed. We’ve got three wins out of four,” Gambhir said.

Ahead of their match against Lucknow Super Giants here, Gambhir added: “In a team sport, it’s the wins that matter. We have got three wins out of four. Why should I not be happy with anyone’s performance? See, people have bad and good days, ultimately, it’s the team that needs to win. And we’ve got decent results in the first four games of the competition. And we all know that how big a threat Mitchell Starc is. Four games doesn’t make him a bad bowler.”