Mitchell Starc will miss the rest of the Twenty20 series against India after leaving the Australian bubble to deal with a family illness.
Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday morning that the paceman would sit out the two remaining T20s at the SCG – the first on Sunday evening and the second on Tuesday.
Coach Justin Langer Confirms He’ll Give Starc All The Time He Needs And Welcome Back
Starc missed the final ODI in Canberra on Wednesday with rib soreness, but returned to play in the opening T20 loss on Friday night.
“There is nothing in the world more important than family and in this case Mitch is no exception. We will give Mitch all the time he needs and welcome him back into the squad with open arms whenever he feels the time is right for him and his family.” ” said Justin Langer, the Australian men’s team Head Coach.
Selectors have already taken Cameron Green out of the T20 squad to play in an Australia A game, while Marcus Stoinis is injured and Pat Cummins rested.
Starc’s withdrawal is the latest change to Australia’s ODI and T20 squad in the past week. David Warner and Ashton Agar have been ruled out with injury, Pat Cummins was given a short break to prepare for the Test summer while Marcus Stoinis has remained with the squad despite suffering a side injury.
Starc’s departure could leave the door open for Daniel Sams to make his international debut on Sunday night, with Andrew Tye the other pace option.
Mitchell Starc had an odd ODI series where we conceded alot of runs in his 10 overs spell and he did not manage to get any big wicket. Mitchell Starc went on to produce combined figures of 1-149 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in first two ODIs.
While he might be down on form, Starc is one of the most dangerous white-ball bowlers in the history of the game.
Although Starc’s bowling was upto the mark in the first T20I where he gave Australia convincing start by removing Shikhar Dhawan with an outswinger in his very first spell. Starc will be missed in T20 series and Australian board is not sure of him about Tests too.
He was the player of the tournament in the 2015 Cricket World Cup and the leading wicket-taker in the 2019 tournament with 27 wickets in 10 matches.
He was also the fastest to 100 ODI wickets and is on pace to be the fastest to 200.
