IND V AUS 2020: 'There by the skin of his teeth' - Peter Lalor reveals why Mitchell Starc almost missed first Test against India
According to reports from Foxsports.com.au, Mitchell Starc was close to missing Australia's first Test against India due to a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in New South Wales.
Mitchell Starc lives on the northern beaches in Sydney. The left-arm seamer had also left the team's bio bubble to meet an ailing member of the family.
The report adds that the Australian cricket board gave an exemption to Mitchell Starc to attend an ailing family member. However, the board then ensured that Starc self-isolated for a minimum period of three days before joining the team's bio bubble.
Had Starc not self-isolated for three days, he could have missed the first Test. Channel 7 journalist Peter Lalor shed more light on the situation.
''He is out there by the skin of his teeth. If Starc hadn’t gone into a self-imposed isolation last Friday, he would probably have been pulled from the field today. CA had to go to the South Australian government and request special permission for him to stay because he was in the area where people are being asked to go into isolation. So he would have had to go back to the hotel, wouldn’t be playing in the match at this stage if it wasn’t for Cricket Australia’s COVID bubble that they have instituted.''
Mitchell Starc's performance in Adelaide so far
Mitchell Starc was the pick of the Australian bowlers in the first innings of the Adelaide Test, as he grabbed four scalps. The left-armer also contributed a valuable 15 runs lower down the order, which stretched Australia's first innings score to 191. If Starc had missed out, James Pattinson would have been his likely replacement in the Australian lineup.
What have you made of Mitchell Starc's performance in the Test so far? Are you relieved he did make the team? Sound off in the comments.