Opinion
Mitchell Starc is one of the best bowlers in the history of T20s yet he bizarrely has played just four matches over the past four years in the shortest format.
The left armer has a jaw-dropping record in T20s, with 130 wickets at 17.4 and an economy rate of 7.1rpo.
Among fast bowlers to have taken at least 100 wickets in this format, only one has a better average than Starc – West Indian left-armer Krishmar Santokie (17.0).
In a format dominated by spinners, who account for nine of the world’s top ten ranked bowlers, Starc is an ultra-rare, match-winning quick.
Only India’s Jasprit Bumrah has a similar ability to dominate. In terms of ranking the world’s T20 quicks, there’s Bumrah and Starc followed by daylight.
Just like the Indian superstar, Starc has the uncommon ability to command games in all three phases of an innings.
The Aussie is a huge threat with the new ball, thanks to his late swing. In the middle overs, he remains a genuine wicket-taking option due to his pace and bounce.
He is also one of the best death-bowlers in the format by using his lethal yorker and underrated changes of pace.
Looking ahead to next year’s World Cup, Starc shapes as clearly Australia’s biggest weapon with the ball and perhaps even their MVP.
The 29-year-old has a habit of running amok in World Cups. Across his ten matches at T20 World Cups he has grabbed 15 wickets at 20, while in the 50-over World Cup he has a phenomenal 49 wickets at 15.
Photo by Action Foto Sport/NurPhoto
Starc was a goliath in this year’s World Cup in the UK, finishing with 27 wickets from ten matches.
Whatever you may think about him as a Test cricketer, it is undeniable that Starc is one of the greatest white-ball bowlers world cricket has seen.
Yet Australia have barely used him in T20s, with Starc having played just one T20I in the three years prior to this current series against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, he hasn’t played a single T20 league match since 2015, when he ran amok in the Indian Premier League with 20 wickets at 14.
At that stage, Starc was arguably the world’s most valuable T20 bowler, a wrecking ball that swung through batting line-ups.
Then, due to a range of factors, he went into a four-year T20 hibernation.
Since August 2015, Starc has played just four T20 matches – two for Australia in Sri Lanka in September 2016, one against India in Sydney last November, and the first T20I against Sri Lanka last Sunday.
He could have been forgiven for being heinously rusty in the shortest format. Yet he immediately hit his straps in his comeback match in Adelaide, taking 2-18 from four overs as the Sri Lankan batsmen laboured against his pace, bounce and swing.
Starc’s T20 drought must now be finished. He should be a fixture of Australia’s line-up for the next 12 months as they build momentum for a tilt at the World Cup.
ODIs should take a backseat for Starc over that period. The likes of Josh Hazlewood, who is unlikely to compete for a T20 spot, should be given more ODI opportunities, with Starc frequently rested from the 50-over side in that time.
His focus should be on Tests and the T20 World Cup. There is no reason that Starc shouldn’t play every T20 for Australia between now and that tournament in addition to, fitness permitting, a stint in the IPL.
The express quick should be aiming to play at least 25 T20 matches between now and the World Cup to reacquaint himself with the format.
If he can do that, then he has the ability to lead Australia to their first-ever T20 World Cup trophy.
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