The struggle of Indian batters against left-arm pacers is known to the entire world. Players like New Zealand pacer Trent Boult, Pakistan pacers Mohammad Amir & Shaheen Afridi, England pacer Reece Topley, etc have troubled the top-order of the Indian team in the past in different formats.
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When India will face Australia in the World Test Championship final at the Oval, they will face the wrath of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc. Starc is one of the most lethal pacers around and he has the reputation of taking wickets with the new ball. The in-swingers of Starc can certainly cause havoc in the English conditions.
For the first time, a Test match is being played at the venue in the month of June. This is just the start of England summers and the nature of the track will assist the pacers. If India wants to do well, they will have to negate the spell of Starc with the new ball.
Mitchell Starc vs India
In the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, Starc could not impress that much as the Indian pitches were not helping him much. However, he still bowled some decent spells with the new ball.
Starc has played a total of 77 Tests so far and 17 of them have been against India. He has only played more red-ball matches against England (18). In those 17 games, he has scalped 44 wickets at an average and strike rate of 38.68 and 69.64, respectively.
These are not the best numbers for a player of Starc’s calibre. He has not scalped a single five-wicket haul as well with 4/53 being his best figures. The tall fast bowler will aim to improve his record and he won’t get a better place or occasion than this one.
Starc recently expressed his desire to play 100 Tests for Australia, and he has been one of those rare bowlers who has constantly skipped Indian Premier League to prolong his International career. He will be more than motivated to get that Test Mace for his side.
Mitchell Starc vs Rohit Sharma Head to Head Record
Indian captain Rohit Sharma will face the opening spell of Starc and he has batted well against him. Sharma has scored 95 Test runs in 151 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and one six. Starc has not dismissed Sharma so far with the red cherry.
Mitchell Starc vs Shubman Gill Head to Head Record
Indian opener Shubman Gill has an excellent record against the left armer. He has scored 130 runs in 140 balls at an excellent strike rate of 92.85. Starc is still searching for Gill’s wicket in this format.
Mitchell Starc vs Cheteshwar Pujara Head to Head Record
Batter Cheteshwar Pujara is coming on the back of a successful County form with Sussex. Against Starc, he has scored 238 runs in 515 balls with the help of 26 boundaries and one six. Pujara has lost his wicket twice against Starc.
Mitchell Starc vs Virat Kohli Head to Head Record
Against former India captain Virat Kohli, Starc has bowled 377 deliveries and has conceded 219 runs by dismissing him thrice. Kohli has an average of 73.00 against Starc where he has scored 29 boundaries. It is clear that the Indian ace has been successful against him.
