Team India were on a winning spree of eight successive ODIs but it come to an end rather dramatically last Sunday (March 19) as they suffered a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of Australia.
Opting to bowl first, Australia bundled out the hosts for a paltry 117 in 26 overs and then chased down the target with 10 wickets in hand and 39 overs to spare.
Mitchell Starc starred with the ball in Australia’s imposing victory. The left-arm pacer ran through the Indian batting line-up, dismissing Shubman Gill (0), Rohit Sharma (13), Suryakumar Yadav (0) and KL Rahul (9) cheaply in powerplay overs.
Mohammed Siraj (0) was his last victim as Starc returned with the figures of 5 for 53 in his 8 overs, which included a maiden as well.
Reflecting on India’s massive defeat, veteran off-spinner R Ashwin highlighted the importance of having a left-arm seamer like Starc.
Ashwin stated that ever since pacer Zaheer Khan retired, India haven’t been able to unearth a quality left-arm seamer and it is something that is causing a lot of trouble to the Indian batters.
"Once Zaheer Khan retired, India haven't found a proper left-arm seamer. There is no use of saying that we have a problem in facing a left-arm seamer because he brings different dynamics of the game into play. In the 2019 World Cup semi-final, Trent Boult swung the ball and took the wicket of Virat Kohli," said Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
"Facing that angle is completely different. In the nets, Virat Kohli will be facing Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav. All of them are fantastic bowlers. When a left-arm seamer bowls from over the stumps, he is suddenly bringing the stumps into play. How many right-arm seamers are bowling inswing at the moment? Since we don't have a left-arm seamer, we are unable to put the opponent under pressure," he added.
Ashwin also showered rich praise on Starc, stating that has gone past the stature of Brett Lee in the 50-over format.
"Shaun Tait is saying that Mitchell Starc is on his way to becoming an all-time great. But if you ask me, he has already gone past that stage. Australia have had their share of all-time greats like Glenn McGrath. But when it comes to ODIs, Starc is on par with Brett Lee. I feel Starc has even gone past Brett Lee's stature in ODI cricket," he opined.
