Mitchell Starc vs Cameron Green - Who Could be More Profitable for His Franchise?

Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc have been bought with huge sums for IPL 2024 by their respective teams [OneCricket]

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru are set to take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). A large part of the IPL fandom considers this game one of the 'El Classicos' in the league. 

If we look at the journeys of the two teams so far, KKR has the upper hand. They have won their first game of the tournament and are currently in the fourth spot in the points table. On the other hand, RCB had a topsy-turvy start to the tournament. They have won one and lost one of their two games and are currently in the sixth spot in the points table. The rivalry will get more air as both teams will be eager to pick up two early points in their campaign. 

Both RCB and KKR have some big names to boast of. There will be some small battles to watch in the big war. One of these will be between Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green. The two franchises have paid hefty amounts for these Aussies in the auction ahead of IPL 2024. It will be interesting to see who proves his worth for his franchise. 

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Starc vs Green - Who could be more useful?

The Kolkata Knight Riders paid Mitchell Starc a hefty INR 24.75 Cr in the auction ahead of IPL 2024, making him the highest-paid player for this edition of the tournament.  RCB paid INR 17.5 Cr to secure the services of Cameron Green. So, the burden of expectations will be on both the players, and it will be interesting to see who justifies his price tag. 

Let us go through some stats and analysis and try to predict who could be this game's more valuable-for-money player. 

Role of Mitchell Starc for KKR

• The Aussie Speedster will be expected to deliver his best with the new ball in hand. Mitchell Starc is known for his lengths with the new ball; he looks to go full and tries to swing the ball. If a little bit of assistance is available with the new ball, then Starc can be hostile with his pace. 
• Barring his exceptional bowling skills in the powerplay, Starc can also be lethal in the death overs. He can spear in toe-crushing yorkers, disturbing a batter's rhythm. If Starc finds his rhythm early, his four overs could decide the match's fate. 
• Besides his lethal bowling, Starc is also a handy batter lower down the order. He can swing his bat and make some quick runs to the team's tally towards the end of an innings. 

Role of Cameron Green for RCB

• Cameron Green is an all-rounder who is equally efficient with both the bat and the ball. The biggest plus of having Green in your line-up is that he can be flexible with his batting position and leave an impact at any stage of the game. 
• Though not a front-line bowler, Green can be handy with the ball. He can get movement off the wicket with the new ball when available. Even on a bad day, Green can give his team a couple of overs that might help the team's skipper be flexible with manoeuvring his primary weapons. 

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Starc vs Green - Form Comparison

Mitchell Starc failed to deliver with the ball in his first match of IPL 2024 [X]

Mitchell Starc's form

Starc got a chance to showcase both his skills in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He got three balls to face with the bat and scored six runs off them while hitting a maximum. 

However, Starc failed miserably with the ball. In his four overs, he conceded 53 runs and could not pick up a wicket. It negatively impacted KKR, though they managed to sneak out a win off it. 

Cameron Green's form

Cameron Green gave a decent performance in the first match against the Chennai Super Kings. His batting looked rusty during his 22 deliveries, in which he scored 18 runs. However, with the ball, Green picked up Ajinkya Rahane's and Daryl Mitchell's crucial wickets while conceding 27 runs in his three overs. 

Green failed to deliver in the second game against PBKS. He scored only three runs, and in the two overs that he bowled, Green conceded 19 runs without picking up wickets. 

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Starc vs Green - What do stats say?

Mitchell Starc - Relevant Stats

First of all let us look at Starc's performance at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in T20 games.

Table - Mitchell Starc's  bowling record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Mitchell Starc has done a decent job while bowling at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He has picked up wickets every fourth over while conceding 8.17 runs per over. 

Now let us have a look at the record of the RCB batters against the Left-arm Pace bowlers. 

Table - Record of RCB batters against Left-arm pacers in T20s 

A look at the record of the RCB batters against Left-arm fast bowlers gives us the idea that Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell has a great record against this type of bowling and might emerge on the positive side of the battle. But players like, Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik might fall prey to Starc. 

Cameron Green - Relevant Stats

Cameron Green in practice ahead of the game against KKR [X]

Table- Cameron Green's record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Though the sample size is small, the stats suggest that Cameron Green has so far failed to impress at the M Chinnswamy Stadium. 

Conclusion

While the current form of the two players suggests that Cameron Green might emerge as the better performer in the game, the stats suggest otherwise. However, given that Green is getting regular practice at the M Chinnswamy Stadium and will now better understand the wicket, combined with his favourable batting style for the pitch, Green might outperform Starc in the game.