When Australia decided to drop Mitchell Starc for their last group game against Afghanistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup, which was also a must-win game for them, it took a lot of people by surprise because Starc is the kind of bowler who doesn’t just have the speed, but he can bowl both at the top and in the death.
Initially, it was thought that Starc might have been injured and given the fact that Australia still has a slight possibility of qualifying to the semi-final round of the World Cup, they might not be looking to take a risk with Starc.
But, as it turned out, Mitchell Starc was not injured and Daniel Vettori, who is currently the assistant coach of the Australian cricket team, revealed at the end of the game that the team management had deliberately dropped Starc and it was a “tactical decision”.
Mitchell Starc is a game changer: Stuart Broad
In the last game that Mitchell Starc had played against Ireland, he had gone for more than 40 runs in his 4 overs, but in the very first over of his spell, he had broken the back of Ireland’s middle order by cleaning up two of their key middle order batsmen, Curtis Campher and George Dockrell.
Even though Starc went for runs later, he had done severe damage to the Irish batting in his first over itself. And that’s why it surprised a lot of people how Australians could even think of dropping Starc. He has the X-factor and he also adds a different dimension to Australia’s bowling, being a left arm.
The England fast bowler Stuart Broad, who has played a lot of cricket against Starc, was also shocked that a bowler as experienced and as capable as Starc was dropped. According to Broad, Starc is a “beast” in the shortest format of the game and has the capability to change games. If he was not injured, it’s a huge surprise that he didn’t play in a must-win game for Australia.
ICYMI – Mitchell Starc being dropped was a shock to all #AUSvAFG | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/YoaN0qwa8l
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 4, 2022
