Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc is optimistic that the Australians will reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the five-match home series against India at the end of the year. Nevertheless, Australia has faced difficulties with India in the last couple of bilateral Test series despite being the most successful nation in test cricket and holding onto their World Test Championship (WTC) title.
As a consequence, they have lost four test series from India out of which two were played in Australia during 2018-19 and 2020-21, respectively. Speaking to Wide World of Sports, Starc expressed hope for Australia to win their end-of-year tests against India.
“Being five matches now it’s probably right on par with an Ashes series. We always want to win every game at home and we know India are a very strong team. As we’re placed at the minute we’re the top two teams on the Test ladder… so a very exciting series coming up for the fans and certainly the players. Hopefully when we’re sitting there on the 8th of January we have that trophy back on our shores,” said Starc.
The five-match Test series between India and Australia has been scheduled to kick off from Perth on the 22nd of November and will end as a New Year’s Test in Sydney on January 7, 2025. Currently, India and Australia are sitting at the two highest positions on the 2023-25 WTC points table having played against each other during the last cycle final.
“Tests will always be my top priority”- Mitchell Starc
As he nears the conclusion of his career, Mitchell Starc reiterated his viewpoint that Test cricket is more significant than the other two formats. Although he is 34, the left-arm fast bowler remains vibrant in the long format, surpassing Dennis Lilee’s tally as Australia’s fourth-highest wicket taker in Tests earlier this year.
“The Tests will always be taking precedence for me. We’ve got seven Tests on the bounce with five against India and then two in Sri Lanka, so they sit top of the tree with what’s coming up.”
”The schedule is pretty fluid… the three quicks in particular, Josh (Hazlewood), Pat (Cummins) and I, we all play three formats so it might look differently for each of us,” said Starc in the same interaction.
“I don’t think we’ve put a deadline on anything. The Test matches will remain a priority, certainly for myself and I think it would be similar for the other two as well. We’ll see where (our) bodies are and the want to keep going, but at this stage it’s all guns blazing for five Tests against India,” he added.
Starc this fantastic Tests opened with 358 wickets in 89 matches at an average of 27.74, including 14 hauls of five wickets or more. Australia will play their next series on three T20Is against Scotland that is from 4th September 2022.
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