Watch: Rinku Singh Welcomes KKR's Rs 24.75 Crore Buy Mitchell Starc With A Mammoth Six

Returning to "IPL circus" after almost a decade, Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc bowled with the new ball, and took some hits from Rinku Singh at the death during Kolkata Knight Riders' second warm-up match at Eden Gardens on Tuesday. The Aussie, who last played in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015, was bought by KKR ahead of IPL 2018 but an injury had ruled him out of that season. The Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise broke the all-time auction record this year to buy him at a price tag of Rs 24.75-crore to bolster their pace attack that had lacked sting in the recent past. "It's always a bit of a circus when it is the best T20 league in the world. It's definitely a new challenge. Yeah, it's going to be exciting. So, yeah I look forward to it," Starc told cricket.com.au.

"I guess my memories are a few and far between of back in 2014 and 2015 with RCB but yeah, really excited to get stuck in. Obviously, a new group of players. A bunch of guys I certainly haven't met or been able to work with before," he said.

Representing Team Purple in their warm-up match against Team Gold, the 34-year-old appeared very positive.

Starc bowled full tilt with the new ball, giving Rahmanullah Gurbaz and 18-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi some anxious moments in his opening over.

Rinku Singh smashed a SIX to Mitchell Starc

This is Cinema!! pic.twitter.com/zQNhfPrqSR

He generated odd bounce from a sluggish Eden wicket, as the 2022 U-19 World Cup winner Angkrish was beaten a few times outside the off-stump.

Starc troubled Afghan batter Gurbaz with an awkward bounce before trapping him LBW in an eventful opening over that read 1-0-1-1.

While fielding at the deep fine leg, Starc was in action in the second over as he