Veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has praised seamer Mitchell Starc, saying the 34-year-old is Australia’s “best bowler” in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. Star Sports reported. India were held to a draw in the third Test in Brisbane, and the series is currently tied at 1 win and 1 loss. The Boxing Day Test begins on December 26th at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. Starc made his Test debut against New Zealand in 2011. The 34-year-old has since played 92 Test matches and 176 innings, taking 372 wickets at an economy rate of 3.42.
The Australian pacer has been in great form against India, picking up 62 wickets after playing 21 Test matches against India.
In the ongoing BGT series, Starc took 14 wickets at an average of 22.86. He is currently the second highest wicket-taker in the series after Bumrah.
Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, Pujara said Starc has improved over the past one-and-a-half years.
“He was their best bowler in this series. And if you look at Mitchell Starc’s play over the last year to year and a half, he’s brought a lot of progress. And he’s got a lot of ability. When it comes to my personal growth, I can tell you from experience that he will be in 2018 or 2021. When he was playing in the last series, I felt that if he played against me he would score, but now when he is playing in this series, I feel that he will score. wicket,” Pujara was quoted as saying in a release from Star Sports.
He added that the Australian pacers have improved their line length and accuracy while bowling.
“So, what’s the difference? The difference is that his line length and accuracy are much better. He’s bowling a lot less loose deliveries. He’s playing off the stumps. “Every ball is hitting the right length spot.” So the change he brings to the game makes him a different player than Cummins or Hazlewood. “It’s starting to look dangerous,” he added.
The veteran cricketer further added that Starc gets tired in the latter half of the innings, so a lower batting order will help him score runs.
“So we have to look out for his game, especially from the new game. In the first five overs, the first period, he took the most wickets there. So, good batting in the first five overs. No previous top order has ever played in the third or fourth spell, as he would be tiring. And there we found that when Bumrah and Akash were batting, when Mitchell Starc was bowling, he was not as effective. So they play the new game well. “There will be a need,” he concluded.
Early last week, Australia made several changes to their squad, addressing Josh Hazlewood’s absence and top-order concerns. Before the fourth Test match of the series, the hosts added Beau Webster, Jay Richardson and Sam Constas to their squad.
Hazlewood, who missed the second Adelaide Test after sustaining a minor side injury in the Perth Test, returned for the third match in Brisbane, but suffered a calf strain during the warm-up on the fourth day. He bowled one over and left the field for scans, the extent of his injury was confirmed to be serious and he was ruled out of the series.
In the first Test at Perth, Hazlewood took five wickets, including four in the first innings. Scott Borland is likely to replace Hazlewood in Australia’s playing eleven for the fourth Test at the MCG from December 26 onwards.
India representative: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz. Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Australia representative: Pat Cummins (C), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (VC), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Constas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jay Richardson, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Stark, Beau Webster.
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