IPL 2025: Mitchell Starc confirms 'No Communication' from KKR, contrasts Venky Mysore

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Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has expressed his disappointment with Kolkata Knight Riders' communication following the IPL retention announcement.

Starc, who was bought for Rs 24.75 crore in the IPL 2024 auction, has found no place in the retention list released by KKR ahead of the mega auction.

The defending champions decided to keep six players for the upcoming season. Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy and Rinku Singh made the list as capped players, whereas Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana were retained as uncapped names.

Amid this, Starc confirmed that there was no communication from KKR regarding their retentions and he was not involved in any talks with the franchise following the IPL 2024 victory.

"I still haven't heard from them. It is what it is, that's franchise cricket, so all barring the Hyderabad boys (Pat Cummins and Travis Head) will be in the auction," Starc mentioned to the Daily Telegraph.

This statement from Starc contrasts what Venky Mysore said just after the retention announcement. The KKR CEO previously expressed the challenges of making retention decisions, especially after a victorious season. He also said that KKR communicated with all the unretained players before the decisions.

"Obviously the number of retentions do feel less, because we first build a squad and try to put all the pieces in place in order to compete. I think our approach has always been to maintain transparency and have, you know, proper conversations with everyone. I've not really had conversations with the six we retained, but the ones we couldn't retain," Mysore said after announcing the KKR retentions.

Starc had a topsy-turvy IPL 2024 with the Knight Riders. The Australian pacer made a horrible start but showcased his value in the playoffs with some excellent bowling displays.

KKR ended their decade-long trophy drought in IPL 2024. They beat Sunrisers Hyderabad comprehensively in the final. But the Knight Riders will undergo some key changes next season. Their captain Shreyas Iyer is not retained for the upcoming cycle, while mentor Gautam Gambhir, assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate will also not be present in the KKR dugout next year.