IND vs AUS | Don't care what people say now, was affected last time against India, reveals Mitchell Starc
Starc is ready for the India series
|Getty
After India announced it's squad for Australia, people are getting excited for the tour, and ahead of that, Mitchell Starc has announced he doesn't care what people say now as last time the noise got to him.The fast bowler is currently not plying his trade in the IPL like many of his teammates.
Yesterday, India announced its squad for Australia in what is going to be a full-fledged series comprising of three T20Is, as many ODIs and four Tests next month. The most awaited and anticipated will be the Test series between these two Test heavyweights and what further adds spice is that India were able to win the Test series last time they travelled Australia. One of the X-factors for Australia is going to be Mitchell Starc, who is priming himself up for the big series so that he corrects the wrongs of the last series.
The left-arm quick Starc also revealed how last time, he got unruffled by the outside noise against India and opinions of the people negatively impacted his game during the four-match Test series. He added that he's far happier when he doesn't read stuff and now just talks to people he trusts around him.
“I think I let the noise get to me, to be perfectly honest, which is a big reason why I don’t pay attention to anything now. By the end of that summer I was just running in and trying to bowl as fast as I could, just to focus on one thing. It worked out for the last Test of that summer,” Starc was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“The noise just got to me and (so did) people who really didn’t have any part of the team, (who voiced) opinions which they’re entitled to, (but) now I just couldn’t care less what people say. I just don’t need to listen to that stuff anymore. I don’t read it and I’m a happier person for it. As long as I have people around me who I trust talking to, and (in) the change room as well … that positive reinforcement is there no matter what.”
The big fast bowler also went on to disclose that he made certain technical changes in his bowling during last year’s Sheffield Shield after he was having issues finding proper balance required between accuracy and pace during the Ashes.
“It’s something I changed in between Shield games last year. A big part of it was around the philosophy we had in England (during the Ashes) about controlling the scoreboard and having a really tight pitch map,” said the 30-year-old, who played just one Test in the Ashes.
“For me, being stuck in controlling that and still trying to bowl really fast, that’s something I didn’t quite have a huge control of coming out of England. “It was either trying to bowl really tight or bowl really fast. Those little changes help me do both easier and with smaller margins of error. That was the basis of the change – still being able to bowl pretty fast and have better control of where I put the ball.”
In the 2018/19 Test series against India, which Australia lost 1-2, Starc had taken 13 wickets in four games at an average of 34.54. Overall, he has taken 31 wickets in 11 Tests against India at 36.19, which is his worst average against any Test side. It will be interesting to see how he improves his poor record against Kohli's men, this summer.
