Former Australian wicket-keeper batter Ian Healy has raised his concerns regarding the poor form of the Australian pacer Mitchell Starc ahead of the highly anticipated semifinal clash against the South Africa team on Thursday. The inability of the left-arm bowler to take wickets during the powerplay has affected Australia’s performance in the major tournament.
Mitchell Starc has performed inconsistently in the ongoing ODI World Cup after dominating the previous editions. In nine games, he has only taken 10 wickets at a dismal average of 43.90, but the left-arm bowler is eager to change things around for the squad when they play South Africa in the semifinals in Kolkata.
Speaking to the media, Ian Healy questioned the effectiveness of Mitchell Starc’s bowling in the marquee event, where he failed to make an impact for the team, and urged him to fire the ball into the stumps. The five-time winners were cautioned that they would have to chase down a huge total in Kolkata if they didn’t pick up early wickets.
“Is (Starc) still a potent force? He’s not been potent at all in this tournament. 10 wickets off eight games is not bad but where is he taking these wickets? He won’t be potent at all until he gets it right and zero in on the stumps much better than he has. Fire into those stumps and feet,” Ian Healy said.
“If we haven’t got South Africa one or two wickets down in that powerplay, then it’ll be a big total to chase,” Ian Healy added.
Mitchell Starc has found it difficult to get going this year despite finishing as the ODI World Cup‘s leading wicket-taker in both 2015 and 2019. He has been expensive in most of the game, and he would be hopeful of changing the tide against bitter rivals in the semifinals.
I Think There’s A Lot Of Contributing Factors – Mitchell Starc On His Poor Form
Mitchell Starc defended his performance in the World Cup 2023, saying that there was some swing in the wickets under the lights and that they performed differently during the day and feels that the numbers would not satisfy many bowlers across the team, given the kind of their bowling.
“If you look at pure numbers, there’s been a lot of guys across a lot of teams not have the numbers they would have liked… the wickets have certainly been two very different wickets through the day and through the night.”
“It’s certainly been more beneficial to swing the ball and nip the ball under lights. I think there’s a lot of contributing factors, speed’s not the be-all and end-all over here in India as well,” Mitchell Starc said.
Mitchell Starc has only taken four wickets at a pitiful average of 34.75 in the first powerplay. Adam Zampa has been the team’s main contributor to their victory in the league stage, but the Australian fast bowling attack has struggled overall in the event.
