Kolkata: Costliest player in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Mitchell Starc was forced to sit out against Punjab Kings due to a finger injury in their IPL encounter on Friday at the Eden Gardens. In the absence of Starc, Sri Lankan Dusmantha Chameera made his KKR debut. Chameera was a part of the Lucknow Super Giants set-up last year; now KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir was also there.

“Starcy got a cut on his finger in the last game, Dushmantha Chameera replaces him. Need a great start and then convert it into a big score, hoping to continue the same form and momentum,” KKR captain Shreyas Iyer informed during the coin toss.

Starc, who last played in the IPL in 2014 before this season, grabbed the limelight when the two-time champions shelled out a staggering Rs 24.75 crore during the auction last year in Dubai. Certainly, there were huge expectations from Starc. But the World Champion bowler have shown a flop show so far with just six wickets in seven games.

While the Australian pacer has been playing non-stop cricket, this break might also help him mentally before KKR’s next encounter. On the other hand. Chameera, who played 12 games for LSG last year, picked nine wickets.

Meanwhile, Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran won the toss and opted to bowl first against KKR. Shikhar Dhawan continues to be on the sidelines owing to his injury while Liam Livingstone made way for Jonny Bairstow in the PBKS playing XI. As far as the KKR are concerned, the hosts have only one single change with Starc making way for Chameera.