"We have got our full-strength team available; it's up to us now" - Mitchell Starc hopeful of Australia lifting the T20 World Cup
Australia's pace-bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc believes that their poor form in the T20s shouldn't matter much before the upcoming T20 World Cup. Aaron Finch and Co. head to the T20 World Cup in the UAE with only six wins from their last 21 matches in the format.
Their last series win came against South Africa back in February 2020 and they have suffered five series defeats since then. It includes losses to England, India, New Zealand, West Indies, and Bangladesh. As a result, Australia have slid to number seven in the rankings in the format.
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Mitchell Starc said he is optimistic as they have their full-strength squad, which they haven't had in the last few months. The left-arm speedster hopes it's enough to carry them all the way. As quoted by Perth Now, Starc told the reporters:
"It's a huge positive that we have got our full-strength team here available to us for the World Cup. Obviously, we didn't have that through the West Indies and Bangladesh. We had some really young, inexperienced players and some young guys playing their first games of cricket for Australia come into some really foreign conditions and thrown in the deep end really quickly. But now we have got our full-strength team available ... it's up to us now."
Although Mitchell Starc was in good form during the West Indies and Bangladesh tours, he couldn't make the required impact. The 31-year-old might struggle initially in the marquee tournament, having not played much cricket in the UAE.
"We have set out to win the World Cup": Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc declared that Australia's goal is nothing less than to walk away with the trophy. The New South Wales bowler underlined that they have all their bases covered to bag the elusive title. He added:
"We have set out to win the World Cup. We don't want anything less. It's no secret that we haven't won a T20 World Cup so I'm looking forward to hopefully being a part of our first one. Obviously, we have had a few guys here in the IPL as well so it's a mixed bag of preparation for everyone - some have been playing some cricket, some have been trying to find ways to prepare for this tour. In terms of our make-up, the group feels like we have covered all bases that we need to for these conditions."
Australia, eyeing their maiden T20 crown, will open their campaign against South Africa in Abu Dhabi on the 23rd of October.