Australian pace sensation Mitchell Starc has made it clear that he won't be participating in the next ICC Cricket World Cup in 2027. However, the senior pacer stressed that he is not bidding farewell to One Day International (ODI) cricket anytime soon.
When the next World Cup rolls around in South Africa in 2027, Starc will be 37 years old, and he is honest about his chances to play in that event.
Notably, Starc already won the 2015 ODI World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup with Australian team, so from now on, his focus will be on prioritizing Test cricket.
Mitchell Starc told reporters in Kolkata: “I'll look to keep playing after this, but I don't doubt that I won't be making the next World Cup. I've no vision for that. Four years is a long (time).”
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He continued, “I've always maintained that Test cricket is the top of the tree for me and I'll drop off the rest before I let go of Test cricket. For me (the World Cup semifinal) is just another one-day game for Australia, it's not the end of the road in one-day cricket as yet for me.”
Starc hasn't been very impressive with the ball in the ongoing World Cup 2023, bagging just 10 wickets at an average of 43.90, and he blamed the "flat wickets" for his below-par show at the CWC 2023.
The left-arm pacer said, “I certainly haven't been at the level I would have liked... or not the same level as the last two World Cups anyway, but now a chance at the pointy end to impact again. Certainly, bowling first on particular wickets, the new ball with two fielders out I think has been almost the hardest time to bowl. You get a bit of an understanding of the wicket as the game goes on... that's not a sob story, that's the nature of one-day cricket.
You've got two brand-new balls on flat wickets, that's the nature of the World Cup if you look at the runs scored, or certainly centuries scored, as opposed to five wickets taken, the ratios are heavily skewed. Bowlers just have to find a way.”
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Meanwhile, Starc is hoping to play in Australia's World Cup 2023 semifinal against South Africa on November 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, denying issues with the recent niggles.
He noted, “I didn't have much of a say in the decision (of being rested). I've carried a few things from the Ashes and it was a chance to give them an extra chance (to recover) before the semifinals. If I only played when I was 100 per cent, I would have probably played 10 games. All bowlers around the world deal with stuff, we just don't have to talk about it like batters do.”
Starc signed off by saying, “Whether it's goosebumps or not, it's just another game... I've played a lot of one-day cricket...(performing in big matches) is not something that's really spoken about. It's a very calm group, this one, and fairly experienced with a couple of younger, less experienced guys gelling in really nicely.”
(With PTI Inputs)
