Mitchell Starc insulted by Ex-India star after T20I retirement: 'He can be very expensive’
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Indian cricket analyst Aakash Chopra has opined that though Mitchell Starc's sudden retirement from T20Is ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup next year has surprised him, he reasons that the pacer can be occasionally expensive with his economy in the shortest format.
Legendary Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game, which got widespread reactions from the cricket fraternity. This was because the ICC T20 World Cup is to be played next year, as the Aussies have also lined up several T20I series in the next few months.
Aakash Chopra's uncommon opinion on Mitchell Starc's T20I retirement
Former Indian player Aakash Chopra has also expressed the same astonishment on learning of Starc's sudden call for retirement; however, he has also acknowledged the fact that the pacer is often hit for too many runs.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, the former Indian opener was asked whether Mitchell Starc's decision to retire is the right call, to which he replied, saying:
"I am a little surprised. Mitchell Starc could have played the World Cup and said goodbye after that, but he didn't wait for the World Cup. To be fair, he hasn't played too many T20Is. He is an absolute gun bowler, but he is also someone who can be very expensive from time to time. You see how and wow with him many times in the shortest format," he added.
"Australian and English Cricketers don't say goodbye to the Ashes so early" -Aakash Chopra
In the same video, later, Chopra also opined that Starc's early retirement call from T20Is might be to prolong his red-ball and one-day careers, highlighting the significance of the Ashes and World Cups for Australians.
"Everyone has their own choice, and I feel the Australian and English cricketers don't say goodbye to the Ashes so early. It's a question of tradition. They are hard-wired in such a way that the Ashes are very, very important, and the ODI World Cup is very, very important. That's how you grow up," he said
Mitchell Starc was sold for INR 11.75 crore in the last IPL mega auction, while the season before that, he was acquired for INR 24.75 crore. Hence, Chopra cites that making money is not a big deal nowadays in the game.
"You have T20 leagues to earn money. So that could be a thought process. The thought process that is right for them might not be right for us, but you should keep playing Test cricket as long as you can because too many ODIs aren't played these days," Chopra observed.
Aakash Chopra is unconvinced by the Test retirement of Indian veteran cricketers
Despite being asked about Mitchell Starc's T20I retirement, Chopra cannot get over the buzz over Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's retirement from Test cricket. He, hence, went on to say that he doesn't feel that Rohit and Kohli should have stopped playing Tests since ODIs are not played much nowadays.
"Personally, I am still not convinced that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did the right thing by leaving Tests. In my opinion, they should have continued playing Tests and left ODIs if they wished, because ODIs don't happen much. Otherwise, they could have continued playing ODIs as well. They had already left T20Is," Chopra said.
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Australia National Cricket Team Aakash Chopra Mitchell Starc Pat Cummins Josh Hazlewood The Ashes Delhi Capitals IPL Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli India National Cricket Team
