What happened the last time Mitchell Starc turned out for RCB in the IPL?

Mitchell Starc made his Kolkata Knight Riders debut last Saturday at the Eden Gardens. KKR splurged ₹24.75 crore to sign the Australian pacer at the auction last year, but he could not justify that price tag on his debut.

Playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mitchell Starc returned wicketless in four overs while leaking 53 runs. Although Starc failed to make an impact versus SRH, the KKR team management will back him to perform well tonight against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

The reason behind it is that Starc played a lot of matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during his stint with RCB in IPL 2014 and 2015. He bagged 12 wickets in 10 matches hosted by Bengaluru in those two seasons. Notably, he also bowled a dream spell of 4/15 against the Punjab Kings on May 6, 2015.

Tonight will be the first time Mitchell Starc plays a match against his former franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. Before he takes field against RCB, here's a throwback at his last match for the Bengaluru-based franchise.

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RCB suffered a loss against CSK in Mitchell Starc's last match for the franchise in IPL 2015

Before playing for Kolkata Knight Riders against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, Mitchell Starc's last IPL appearance came on May 22, 2015 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Chennai Super Kings. It was the 2nd Qualifier match, with Ranchi's JSCA Stadium hosting the game.

On a slow pitch, RCB batted first and scored 139 runs in their 20 overs. CSK dismissed eight RCB batters in that game. Starc came out to bat at number nine and remained unbeaten on one run off one ball.

Captain Virat Kohli handed the ball to Mitchell Starc to open the bowling for RCB. He could not take any wickets in his first spell, but he came back to dismiss all-rounder Dwayne Bravo later in the innings.

Starc finished with figures of 1/27 in four overs, but his economical spell was not enough to help RCB defeat CSK. Michael Hussey played a splendid inning of 56 runs from 46 balls to help Chennai reach 140/7 with one ball to spare.

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How did Mitchell Starc perform in his last IPL match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium?

Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium will play host to the RCB vs KKR match in IPL 2024 tonight. It will be Starc's first IPL match at this venue since May 17, 2015. The last time Starc played on this ground was for RCB against Delhi Capitals. The match ended with no result.

DC batted first and scored 187/5. Starc bowled four overs, conceding 35 runs without taking any wickets. He had an expensive economy rate of 8.75 in that match. Interestingly, current KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was a part of the Delhi playing XI in that game.

Iyer and Starc will play together for Kolkata Knight Riders tonight. KKR fans will hope that their team becomes the first one to win an away match in IPL 2024 by defeating RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.