On this day, January 30: Australian pacer Mitchell Starc was born. The left-arm pacer will go down as one of Australia’s finest all-format bowlers. Starc is only the second Australian fast bowler after
Glenn McGrath to play 100 Tests and the fourth bowler from Australia to take 400 Test wickets. He is currently playing only the ODI and Test format after announcing his retirement from T20Is. Starc has terrific career stats, he has picked up 433 wickets in 105 Test matches and 247 wickets in 130 ODI matches. He is set to add more to his tally in the coming years.
The highlight of Mitch Starc’s career will undoubtedly be the 2015 World Cup where he wreaked havoc as Australia became the champions. Mitch Starc was nearly unplayable throughout the tournament and won the player of the tournament picking up 22 wickets. He did well in the 2019 World Cup too and come the 2023 World Cup, Mitch Starc again was the spearhead for Australia and picked up 27 wickets as Australia won the 2023 WC.
After the end of the 2024 WT20, Mitch Starc was the highest wicket-taker across all World Cups. He has been excellent in Test and was the player of the series in the recent Ashes tour as he played all 5 matches for Australia and was the leading wicket-taker. In 2019-2022 WTC cycle he took 44 wickets in 10 Test and in the next WTC cycle he took 55 wickets. Starc also became the costliest IPL player at that time when KKR picked him up for 24.75 crore. He won the IPL title with KKR in 2024.
Starc played 65 T20Is after making his debut in 2012 and was part of the Australia side that won the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. He last featured in the format at the 2024 World Cup in the Caribbean and announced his retirement post that. He has picked up 79 wickets in 65 T20I matches. Starc is time and again proving that he has still got what it takes and is aiming to extend his career in the ODI and Tests formats. One thing is for sure, when the time comes to hang up his boots, Mitch Starc will be cherished as an all-time great.
