Australian star Mitchell Starc has opened his doors to playing in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The left-handed player was part of the Australian squad for the recently concluded T20 World Cup, held in the United States and the West Indies.
Mitchell Starc played in 5 of the 7 matches Australia played in the competition last month. In those 5 matches, he picked up 5 wickets, though he could not help Australia qualify for the semi-finals. The Australian team management had decided not to include him in the starting XI for the crucial Super 8 clash against Afghanistan.
In his absence, Australia suffered an unexpected defeat and eventually withdrew from the tournament. The veteran pacer will be almost 37 when the next T20 World Cup is held in 2026. He was recently asked whether he would be available for that tournament or not.
In response, the world champion said he has not yet made a decision.
“I don’t know, I probably won’t make up my mind. I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Mitchell Starch said on the Willow Talk podcast.
Starc, who made his debut for Australia in 2010, has played 65 T20Is so far and picked up 79 wickets. He was also part of the Australian team that won the T20 World Cup in 2021. Before this year’s World Cup, he had also played a leading role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ triumphant campaign in the IPL 2024.
Mitchell Starc on his absence for the match against Afghanistan:
During the same podcast, Mitchell Starc also spoke about his dismissal from the match against Afghanistan. He was also ruled out of Australia’s match against Afghanistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup. On that occasion, Kane Richardson was preferred ahead of him.
Richardson had conceded 48 runs in 4 overs, though Australia managed to win the match by a narrow margin of four runs. However, they failed to cross the finishing line in last month’s T20 World Cup and paid a heavy price for it as they failed to progress to the semi-finals.
“Two World Cups in a row,” Starc said before adding: “Just because of the match-up, you saw previous matches on that pitch in St Vincent with spin playing a big role and obviously Ash and the left-hander prompting them to make a change.”
