Australia pacer Mitchell Starc showered rich praise on the Indian team after their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 title win. He stated that India is the only country that can field separate Test, ODI, and T20I teams on the same day against formidable opponents and be competitive.

He also complemented that talent present in India and stated that they can play Australia in Tests, England in an ODI, and South Africa in a T20I with three different teams on the same day and still be competitive.

"I think they are probably the only nation that can have a Test team, a one-day team, and a T20 team play on the same day against Australia in the Test, England in the one-dayer, and South Africa in the T20I; and India will be competitive. No other country can do that,” Starc said on the YouTube channel 'FanaticsTV'.  

Starc's comment was part of his reaction to a program moderator's query about whether the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is growing year after year, gives India an advantage in white-ball tournaments.

"I am not sure if it's an advantage per se because as cricketers we have got these opportunities to play all franchise (cricket) around the world (but) the Indian guys can only play in the IPL. Obviously, it's the number one product, has got all the Indians playing, so much influx of international talent. It's at the top.

There's no doubt that it's a huge tournament...But I don't think you can just sit on that because you have guys (players around the world) that play 5-6 different franchise leagues a year; so they are still getting the exposure to world cricket. That (IPL) helps, it's a great tournament, but obviously you have got to have talent there; and the depth in Indian cricket (is huge)," he added.

Mitchell Starc will be part of the IPL 2025 season where he will play for Delhi Capitals (DC) who bought him in the mega auction for INR 11.75 crore last November. Incidentally, Starc skipped the ICC Champions Trophy with a sore ankle and for personal reasons.