RCB and Mitchell Starc part ways ahead of 2017 season
RCB will now go into the player auction in Bangalore with two slots for overseas players - they previously had only one - and an additional INR 5 crore in their purse
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Feb-2017
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mitchell Starc have parted ways ahead of the 2017 IPL season; the Australia fast bowler will not be part of the IPL player auction on February 20 either.
Cricket Australia said Starc's workload was too heavy for him to play in the IPL and that he would "undertake a period of rehabilitation and strength" ahead of the Champions Trophy in England in June.
Starc said: "At this point in time after a long summer and with a big tour of India still ahead I think it is in my best interests, both physically and mentally, for me to have a break, spend time with my family and take the opportunity to work on getting back to full fitness."
RCB will now go into the player auction in Bangalore with two slots for overseas players - they previously had only one - and an additional INR 5 crore (US$ 746,000 approx.) in their purse, which was Starc's price. RCB now have INR 17.825 crore (US$ 2,660,447 approx.) to spend at the auction.
Starc was part of the RCB franchise since 2014 but played only two tournaments for them. He missed the entire 2016 season because he was recovering from a foot fracture. In 2014, he took 14 at 28.71 apiece, with an economy of 7.49, and in 2015 he claimed 20 wickets at 14.55 apiece with an economy of 6.76.
RCB squad Virat Kohli (capt), Chris Gayle, 3 KL Rahul (wk), AB De Villiers, Shane Watson, Kedhar Jadhav, Stuart Binny, Yuzvendra Chahal, Iqbal Abdulla, S Aravind, Harshal Patel, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, Sarfaraz Khan, Samuel Badree, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Avesh Khan, Tabraiz Shamsi