Mitchell Starc was reluctant to play India series due to father's illness, reveals Alyssa Healy
Mitchell Starc’s wife Alyssa Healy said that the Australian pacer was reluctant to feature in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar trophy due to his father's illness. However, Starc joined the team after his father convinced him to play the series, and scalped 11 wickets from four Tests against India.
After a disappointing performance in the first Test match against Australia, India bounced back to win the four-match Test series by a 2-1 margin. The result was brought about a splendid performance by India's young guns in absence of regular captain Virat Kohli among others.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Mitchell Starc’s wife Alyssa Healy revealed that the Australian pacer was reluctant to join the squad for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, as his father Paul was suffering from cancer. Healy added that Mitchell wanted to spend time with his father during the tough times, but it was Paul who convinced him to put national duties on priority.
"Mitch didn’t want to be there playing cricket. He wanted to be sitting next to his Dad, and spending the last three months that he could possibly have with his Dad. Paul didn’t want that, he wanted Mitch to go out there, play for Australia and wear his baggy green with pride," Alyssa Healy said In a chat with 7Cricket.
Despite going through a difficult phase in life, Starc joined the Australian squad for the all important series. However, the left-arm quick did not have a great time with the ball, managing only 11 wickets from four Test matches at an average of 40.73. Healy stated that the 31-year-old had to face a lot of criticism throughout the series, and that not many people had an idea what he was going through at the time.
“To have to deal with what was going on behind the scenes and play Test cricket on the biggest arena is not easy. Mitch copped a lot of flak for bowling the way he did last summer but those people who were laying into him had no concept of what was going on behind the scene," the Australia women's wicketkeeper added.
Starc's father Paul passed away in February due to cancer.
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