Australian Veteran pacer Mitchell Starc revealed that everyone in the Australian team was startled by the Pakistan team speedster’s failure to attain higher speeds with the ball, especially given the team’s reputation for it in International Cricket. The Men in Green bowlers failed to make an impact for the team in the 1st test of the three-match test series.
Pakistan’s options for fast bowlers were restricted in the absence of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah. Much of the burden fell on Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has fallen from his peak speed since returning from a knee injury. The Left-arm bowler averaged in the low 130 KPH, throughout the game, failing to trouble the quality Australian batters.
Speaking to the media ahead of the second game against Pakistan, Mitchell Starc expressed his surprise at Pakistan bowlers bowling at such a slow speed in the first test, even though they had bowlers who can consistently clock 150 KPH.
The left-arm pacer believes that speed is crucial in bowling and that the Australian bowling attack possesses all of the components of fast bowling that allow them to outperform skilled batters.
“I think everyone was slightly surprised at the lower pace of the Pakistan bowlers when you’re generally used to some guys getting in the 150s [kph], I don’t think that pace is the be-all and end all but it certainly plays a part and can help.”
“Case in point, you look at Scott Boland who can bowl good wheels, but he’s not at your top end of pace bowlers,” he said. “But he generates a lot of sideways movement here in Melbourne, obviously being his home ground. He’s done it for a long time and we saw that obviously against England, where every ball he bowled could have been a wicket.
“So I don’t think that pace is the be all and end all. Certainly, for our attack we all complement each other really well by doing things very differently,” Mitchell Starc said.
Throughout the game, Shaheen Afridi could not bowl at his usual best, Khurram Shahzad bowled at medium-fast speeds, and while Aamer Jamal improved as the game continued, with him rarely touching 140kph. In comparison, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc all consistently hit the mid-140s and would be keen to continue their fine form going into the remainder of the series.
