IND v AUS 2020: Starc's new action not allowing him to get it to swing, says Irfan Pathan 

Mitchell Starc tweaked his action last year after he was dropped from the Test side.

Mitchell Starc | GettyAfter being dropped from Australia's Test side last year, Mitchell Starc was forced to put in extra work on the consistency of his line and length, which he couldn't find with his earlier action that didn't allow him to go through the delivery stride in straight alignments. 

Starc tweaked the action, coming in more vertically with a better release position, and as a result, his accuracy improved to a great degree without any obvious compromise on the pace, something that the team management always wanted. He enjoyed immense success during the summer back home, taking a bucket full of wickets.

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However, like batting, bowling isn't a perfect art; you take control of one weakness, the other pops out of somewhere. 

Former India pacer-turned-commentator, Irfan Pathan, seems to have spotted a problem even with Starc's current action; he thinks it is a hurdle to him getting swing with the white Kookaburra ball as observed during his first spell in the Indian innings of the first ODI in Mumbai on Tuesday (January 14). 

Irfan reckons while Starc is coming down straighter, there is an issue with the strength, or explosiveness of his load-up to the crease. 

"There is a change in the LOADING in his bowling action for some reason and I think that’s the reason #starc isn’t getting the swing, on the contrary the other end #cummins able to move the ball with repetitive action... #INDvsAUS," Irfan tweeted. 

Australia skipper Aaron Finch decided to bowl first after winning the toss, expecting the surface to remain true and dew to fall in excess in the second half. "Looks like a reasonably good wicket," Finch said at the toss. "Hopefully, there will be some dew later. There was a lot of dew yesterday when we trained. That’s the part of our decision. The feeling is very good. We haven’t played ODIs since our WC semi-finals."

"Lot of guys have been playing Tests and BBL. So, they are pretty confident coming into this format. The guys are pretty confident. I think the guys that have come in, have done well when they have played. Having all the quicks available is not something we have had for some time. We are going with two spinners," Finch added. 

Starc immediately struck from his end with the new ball, taking the wicket of dangerous Rohit Sharma. 

(Inputs from HT)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 14 Jan, 2020

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