Birthday special: Mitchell Starc – Australia’s lethal weapon

Mitchell Starc, who turns 32 today (January 30), came into the international scene with a bang in 2010 and it has been more than a decade of excellence from him for Australia. The left-arm seamer is one of the quickest bowlers going around and his vicious in-swinging yorkers are a delight to watch. Starc has played a lot of handy knocks for the Aussies down the order especially in Tests and he remains to be one of the vital cogs in the Australian bowling setup.

Mitchell Starc’s new ball consistency over the years

Whether I i’s the white ball or the red ball, Starc has always been on the money with the new ball and has rarely failed to swing the ball up front. His lethal pace combined with the late movement means that the batters have to be on their toes while facing him. He had a phenomenal World Cup in 2015 where he contributed immensely and won the World Cup for Australia and finished with 22 wickets in just eight games at an average of 10.18.

He lived up to the expectation again in the 2019 World Cup as well by finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 27 wickets in 10 games at an average of 18.59. Not many bowlers have been as consistent as him for a long time now and he still has a lot more years left in international cricket. He definitely ranks among the top names in the history of Australian bowlers when it comes to the art of making the new ball talk.

Starc fired at all cylinders in the recent Ashes with a peach of a delivery to dismiss Rory Burns in the first ball of the series. He was rewarded with the Allan Border Medal recently for his show in 2021. A game away from completing 100 ODIs, Starc has mind-blowing numbers in the format picking up 195 wickets already at an average of 22.4.