T20 World Cup 2021 | We’ve set out to win the world cup, don’t want anything less, says Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc has said that his team is set out to win the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE and will not be satisfied with anything less. Starc further mentioned that the recent form of the team will not matter going into the competition as they were not playing with a full-strength T20 team.
ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is scheduled to start on October 17. Australia have already entered the super 12 stage and they will aim to clinch their first World T20 triumph. Their form in the shortest format might be an issue of concern for the team as they have lost 16 of their last 24 T20I matches since the start of 2020. But the Australian team was playing without their main players in some of the matches.
The recently announced Australia squad for the World Cup is a full-strength one and has potential players who can help the team become champions. Reflecting on his views about the Australia team for the upcoming T20 World Cup, Mitchell Starc has stated that the team was playing without their full-strength squad for the last 3 years but now they have a full-strength squad and will look forward to winning the title.
"Over the last three years or so, we haven't always had our full-strength Twenty20 team available. Now we've got everyone available we're looking forward to getting stuck in and hopefully showing the class that we have. We’ve set out to win the World Cup, we don't want anything less," he told reporters from Abu Dhabi according to Reuters.
Australia toured West Indies in July this year for a five-match T20I series and lost by a scoreline of 4-1. Then, they toured Bangladesh in August for a five-match T20I series which again they lost by the same scoreline. Only two wins from 10 T20I fixtures is a poor record but the Australians were playing without the services of their major players. Steven Smith, David Warner, Glen Maxwell, and Pat Cummins missed both series. Also, the turning tracks in Bangladesh made it difficult for young and inexperienced players. Summarising both these tours, Mitchell Starc has said that some young and inexperienced players were thrown in difficult conditions and that is the reason they lost.
"We had some really young, inexperienced players and some young guys ... thrown in the deep end really quickly. Yeah, not our best tour, but obviously now we've got our full-strength team available, guys coming off (the Indian Premier League) in really good form, it's up to us now,” he opined.
Australia is a part of a tough group where they have England, South Africa, and West Indies plus two qualifiers from round 1 with them. Every team will play only five matches in the super 12 to reach the semi-finals and that makes the competition more intense. With fewer fixtures in hand, teams have to make maximum out of it to advance in the tournament. Australia will play their campaign opener against South Africa on October 23 in Abu Dhabi. Sharing his thoughts on how the team should play and their opening fixture against South Africa, Starc has stated that the team has to play their best cricket from the start.
"You almost have to play some of your best cricket from the get-go. It's important for us to play well against South Africa and hopefully carry that through the tournament. It's no secret that we haven't won a T20 World Cup, so I'm looking forward to hopefully being a part of our first one,” he concluded.