India vs Australia 2020: Virat Kohli feels former IPL teammate Mitchell Starc is more lethal than before
According to Indian skipper Virat Kohli, former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Mitchell Starc is a much improved and lethal bowler in present times than he was last year. Starc, who represented IPL franchise RCB under captain Virat Kohli, doesn't have much experience of playing in India of late.
Not only did he miss the 2019 IPL, he even opted out of the IPL 2020 Auction to focus on the national side.
In the pre-game press conference, Kohli reminded everyone how skilful Starc was and not playing in Indian conditions in recent times won't affect his performance in the international circuit. Kohli described the advantage of pace that Starc possesses, which helps him adjust to conditions better than anyone else in the game. Kohli stated:
“I don’t think that not having played in India [recently] will be much of a factor for him, because he’s played a lot over here... And anyone who has pace, once they find their length they can adjust anywhere, so the pace is always going to be an advantage. But having said that we have played against these guys a lot.”
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Kohli seemed visibly awestruck by Starc's potential and explained how the Aussie was a much-improved bowler with more swing in his armoury than before, after a change of action. Kohli, who is known to struggle a bit against the in-coming deliveries off left-armer's, thinks that Starc can be the most lethal bowler if things go right for him early-on. He said:
“He is a very skillful bowler and he’s changed his action now, which we saw him getting more swing. Looks like he’s back to swinging the ball like he used to, and that makes him a lethal bowler all over again.”