Mitchell Starc withdraws from Australia’s T20I series against India

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has opted out of the remaining two T20Is against India after he learned about a family illness. The development might not augur well for the hosts as they are already missing out on Pat Cummins, who was rested after two ODIs, and Ashton Agar, who had to be replaced by Mitchell Swepson for the opening T20I at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.

Though the Aussies lost the first game by 11 runs, Starc was effective, both with the new and old ball. The speedster castled Shikhar Dhawan in the powerplay after which he accounted for Washington Sundar’s wicket at the death. The home team bowled well, to start with, but then leaked quite a bit of runs in the last few overs due to Ravindra Jadeja’s power-hitting.

No replacement for Mitchell Starc

Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott also didn’t look at their best in the first game. Both pacers went wicketless and conceded 62 runs in the six overs they bowled. Among the pacers, Moises Henriques looked the most decent with three wickets. In the meantime, Aaron Finch and Co won’t be calling up Starc’s replacement since they already have Andrew Tye and Daniel Sams in their squad.

JUST IN: Mitchell Starc has withdrawn from the #AUSvIND T20I squad after being informed about a family illness.

There will be no replacement for the fast bowler in the squad, since Andrew Tye and Daniel Sams are already a part of it. pic.twitter.com/fLaZfS5xkW

— ICC (@ICC) December 6, 2020

Finch’s men have reasons to worry about since both Tye and Sams haven’t been in Australia’s recent scheme of things. Tye has an experience of 26 T20Is, but he last donned the national jersey back in November 2018 against India. Sams, on the other hand, is yet to make his debut for Australia. The left-armer is recently coming off a stint for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.

The 28-year-old seamer has also been a key performer for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League. Overall, in 40 T20s, the speedster has 52 wickets at an economy of 8.26. The second T20I is set to be played on Sunday, December 6 at the renowned Sydney Cricket Ground, and it remains to be seen who between Tye and Sams gets included in the playing eleven.

Australia also have the option of picking Nathan Lyon, who has been added to the squad after Cameron Green was released to play for Australia A in the practice match against India A at the Drummoyne Oval. Going into the next game, it’s pertinent to note that Australia have lost both their T20Is thus far against India at the SCG in 2016 and 2018 respectively.