Brad Haddin Backs Mitchell Starc To Succeed In India
Feb 17, 2017 at 4:58 PM
During Australia’s otherwise nightmare tour of Sri Lanka, there was just one glimmer of hope in the form of returning quick Mitchell Starc. The fiery left-arm pacer wrecked havoc on the Sri Lankans with his sheer pace as he ended up taking 24 wickets in three Tests, at an incredible bowling average of just 15.16. Despite Starc’s heroics with the ball, Australia couldn’t escape a humiliating series whitewash.
With the tour of India barely six days away, former wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has tipped Starc to succeed in India this time around. In his column for ESPN Cricinfo, Haddin mentioned Starc as a player to watch out for in the series. The left-arm quick has toured India in the past in 2013, but endured an ordinary series back then.
“Australia’s attack have their work cut out against Virat Kohli and company, but I do think they have the sorts of attributes that can succeed,” mentioned Haddin.
“O’Keefe’s ability to consistently attack the stumps and offer variation between skid and spin will be more than useful, as we saw in his brief Sri Lanka stint before injury, while Starc and Hazlewood are both accomplished at reversing the ball and will need to do so frequently. Starc’s ability to blow away a tail is another vital element of Australia’s campaign, and one that has the potential to change the series in a big way,” Haddin wrote about Starc.
Haddin, however, was quite vocal about the fielders assisting bowlers, as chances were hard to create on flat Indian surfaces.
“Australia are going to have to field like demons. I can see the bowlers creating 20 chances a Test – in other words, enough to win.
“But dropped catches and missed run-outs would be extremely damaging, because India will make the most of any opportunities missed. So too will the crowds I mentioned before, and nothing can make the sun beat down harder on the heads of the fielding side than a chance going down,” he concluded.