Mitchell Starc played a key role in orchestrating India’s worst defeat in the second ODI match at YS Raja Reddy Cricket Stadium. Starc showed signs of his best when picking up the superb figures of 5/53 in a Player of the Match performance in Australia’s 10-wicket romp over India in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. He now has eight scalps in total from the opening two matches of the three-game series.
The pacer’s ability to strike during the Powerplay has been on show in India, with four of Starc’s wickets in the pivotal second match of the series coming during a blistering opening spell that put the hosts immediately on the back foot after they were sent into bat first by stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith.
Starc’s prowess to swing the new ball and make inroads early in an innings is a trait that has helped the left-armer prosper throughout his international career and the 33-year-old said he won’t be changing the tactics that have helped him claim 219 ODI wickets for his country from just over 100 matches.
“My plan hasn’t changed for 13 years: bowl full, hit the stumps, try and swing it,” Star said, as quoted by ICC.
“That’s been my role for a long time, to try and get wickets up front in the Powerplay. At times that means I’m probably more expensive, but I’m trying to bring in all modes of dismissal, so it’s certainly not a new game plan these last two games. When you’ve got a powerhouse batting unit that India do have, if you can take wickets in the Powerplay it means we sort of control the game in some respects, which is what we did today,” as quoted by ICC.
