“Prefers playing 100 tests instead of playing in IPL”- Mitchell Starc

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc will be seen in action in the World Test Championship final (2021-23) against India. The 33-year-old left-arm pacer recently revealed why he is skipping the IPL tournament for some years and his plans ahead as a bowler. The ace pacer, while speaking to cricket.com.au, said that the money in the IPL is nice, but he is currently aiming to represent Australia in 100 test matches. Mitchell Starc played some IPL seasons for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015. Since 2015, he hasn’t played any IPL season for any IPL franchise, though in 2018 he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for 9.4 crores, but in that season he didn’t play any matches.

In the 27 matches he played in the IPL, he took 34 wickets, and his career stats in international matches are also good, as the left-arm pacer has taken 306 wickets in 77 test matches for his side since his debut in 2011. He also bowled for Australia in ODIs and T20Is and was part of the winning side in the ICC World Cup 2015 and the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. With his third ICC title, if Australia wins the WTC final, he could be on the list of the most prestigious players to win ICC titles in all formats. Mitchell Starc has his ways to deal with the criticism he faced in his initial days; it affected him, but now it doesn’t bother him anymore.

“To choose not to do certain things to prolong playing for Australia, I’ve tried to be smart about that. Yeah, the money’s nice, but I’d love to play 100 Test matches. Whether I get there or not, I don’t know, but that would be a nice one to tick off. Hopefully, there’s a little bit left in me,”

To play three formats for over 10 years, it’s been a lot of pain along the way, but I’m grateful I’ve gotten that far. Whilst I’ve tried to add to the bow, as soon as I lose airspeed, there’s going to be someone chasing me. Once that next left-armer is coming through, yeah, I’m sure I’ll know when I know. That (media criticism) might have bothered me a few years ago, but I’ve certainly settled on a happy place where it doesn’t bother me anymore,

Mitchell Starc told cricket.com.au.

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