No. No, this is not happening. Mitchell Starc has just been ruled out of the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Australia have had to massively exceed expectations just to be level after two Tests. Given that you can’t really plan to draw Tests, and that’s not really the Australian way anyway, they must find another win from somewhere.
They won in Pune and came close in Bengaluru without Starc in his Sri Lanka mode, but now that they’ve lost him, and the other Mitchell (Marsh), how will they win another Test on this tour?
Jackson Bird is the likely replacement, even though James Pattinson would be a tempting selection. Bird is a good bowler, but what that means is that Australia must go with two stock bowlers rather than a stock bowler and a shock bowler.
They have lost their dream specialist bowling team for India. They have even lost their preferred fifth bowler. They have lost all their Mitchells for the first time since the Durham Test in 2013, considering Darren Lehmann is not Justin Langer, and not even Justin Langer could bring back the retired Mitchell to international cricket.
They haven’t won without a Mitchell since Bridgetown in 2012.
But, in good news, Starc is expected to make it back for the Champions Trophy. That’s a tournament which no Australian cares about right now, and few outside the elite of cricket will care about at the relevant time.
In the last Champions Trophy, David Warner punched Joe Root. Michael Clarke’s back refused to work. Australia lost. And, if you are Australian, you are probably more computer than human if you remember much else.
The tournament itself should not even exist when Olympic participation would fulfil the Champions Trophy’s original mandate so much more successfully. If you remember it after the upcoming Ashes summer, you will be doing well.
Australia were ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before the first Test. They were ruled back in in Pune. They were not ruled out after Bengaluru. They were not ruled out after Mitchell Marsh had to go home. This is the closest they have come to being ruled out of the series since before Pune.
Win from here, and might just be Australia’s most special series win in India. Ever.
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