Mitchell Starc at his best will be key to Australia's fortunes in India, feels Glenn Mcgrath
What’s the story
Glenn Mcgrath has shown faith in the Australian new bowling pair of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to perform well in India. The former Australian fast bowler hopes to see Starc on top of his game when Australia will visit India for a four-match test series.
“Someone like Mitchell Starc can be dangerous and Australia will need him to be on top of his game here. He along with Hazlewood have to bowl incredibly well,” said the 46-year-old Australian.
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Australia’s most recent memories of playing in the Indian subcontinent are not good as they were whitewashed 3-0 by Sri Lanka in the Test series at the island. Starc, however, was a bright light shining whole through the tour, taking 24 wickets in 3 Tests on surfaces tailor-made for spinners.
Since then, Starc has combined with Hazlewood to form a lethal new-ball bowling pair in tests for Australia. The duo accounted for 29 wickets from 3 Tests in the recently concluded series against Pakistan.
The heart of the matter
The former Australian pacer who is the coaching director at MRF Pace Foundation was speaking about Australia’s chances in the upcoming tour of India. McGrath admitted that though the visitors need a couple of good spinners but the key to Australia’s success, he felt would be the performance of Mitchell Starc.
The Australian also had a word of advice for the batsmen. The 46-year-old said that the Aussie batsmen should not go on to be too aggressive or over-defensive and instructed them to use the sweep shot well to counter Indian spin attack.
What next?
Australia will face India in the first Test of the series starting on February 23 at Pune. India have comprehensively beaten strong oppositions like South Africa, New Zealand, and England, asserting their dominance at home.
The Australian team will need a string of extraordinary performances from its players if they hope to pose any kind of challenge for Virat Kohli’s men.
Sportskeeda’s take
Whenever Australia have toured India in the past, their fast bowlers have fared better than the spinners. Starc’s lethal pace and his incisive accuracy make him one of the best fast bowlers in the world. The 26-year-old surely has made the world batsmen fear him.
But the kind of form Virat Kohli and his Indian batsmen are in, Starc is bound to have his work cut out if he hopes to trouble the Indian batsmen.