'The Australian fans will probably say no' - Mitchell Starc on whether current Indian setup is best white-ball team ever

India recently clinched the Champions Trophy 2025 in sensational style. They were the only side which ended up unbeaten in the recently-concluded edition. Their group-stage run was genuinely flawless; emerging as comprehensive victors in all three of their matches. Despite being pushed hard, the Men in Blue were able to come out on top in the semi-final and the final of the competition. 

Australian pace bowler, Mitchell Starc, who did not feature in the Champions Trophy, revealed that he did not quite track the tournament. He also offered his take on whether the current Indian unit was the "best white-ball team ever".

"Not surprised that India won. I'll be honest here, I did not watch a single ball. I'm not sure I watched much of the Champions Trophy at all. Just bits and pieces of the Aussie games. I played with (Varun) Chakaravarthy with KKR last season, he is a huge talent and an interesting bowler. Now, whether they are the best white-ball team ever? The Indian fans will say yes, the Australian fans will probably say no," shared Starc while speaking on Fanatics TV.

Starc weighs in on IPL's influence on India's white-ball success

The left-armer remained unbiased while reflecting on the Indian Premier League being the main reason of India's growing limited-overs scene. 

"I'm not sure it is an advantage per se because as cricketers, we have got all the opportunities to play all franchises in the world, but the Indian guys can only play in the IPL. So, I don't think you can sit on that because you have got guys who play across five to six different franchise leagues a year. So, even they are getting the exposure to white-ball cricket," reasoned Starc.

Also Read - India will be competitive, no other country can do that: Mitchell Starc

India will next feature in a five-match Test series against England across June and August later this year. In the last three ICC white-ball tournaments, they have emerged runners-up (Cricket World Cup 2023) once and winners (T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025) twice.