World Cup 2019: Mitchell Starc says defeat to India made us change our bowling plans

The Australian team is steamrolling oppositions ever since the defeat to India in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019. The Kangaroos have stormed into the semis and are the only team to confirm their spot something that was expected from the five-time champions. One of the biggest reasons for that has been their opening combination and resurgence of Mitchell Starc as a wicket-taker.

Starc now has 25 wickets in the ongoing tournament thanks to two five-wicket hauls, the second of which came against a thumping win over New Zealand the other day. This was their fifth straight win in the tournament and Starc feels that loss to India early in the competition led to them changing some plans with the ball in the middle overs.

We were all probably a little bit off in that Indian game, says Starc

Mitchell Starc has been in terrific form in the tournament and helped Australia beat neighbours New Zealand by 86 runs. The left-armer praised the new plans with the white ball after the shock against India for this success. “Since the India game, we’ve taken wickets through the middle fairly regularly, and whether it’s attacking more or I think the biggest part was the execution,” Starc was quoted as saying by the Hindu.

Starc highlighted the improvement in the bowling ranks ever since they lost to Kohli and his men by 36 runs and was quoted as saying, “We were all probably a little bit off in that match against India. I think the turning point was probably that match where we had a good chat as a bowling group and a batting group and we’ve just continued to improve as a whole group of players from that game.”

The Man of the Series from the 2015 edition of the World Cup, broke records with his 5/26 against the Black Caps, as this was Starc’s third fifer in the tournament. He also moved up to the sixth spot in the most wickets in World Cup list, with 46 scalps at a tremendous average of just 12.97.

Starc further talked about peaking in the tournament when the time was right and something that will help the unit get into the zone for the semis and possibly, the final. “We’ve always spoken about peaking towards the back end of the tournament. We’re not quite there yet. We’re showing glimpses of what we are capable of with the ball and with the bat and in the field, but we have still got room to improve, and that’s exciting for this group,” Starc signed off.