Mitchell Starc Needs To Regain Swing If He Wants To Be Included In The Squad For South Africa Tests: Ricky Ponting
Published - 25 Jan 2021, 05:15 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:40 AM
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that star pacer Mitchell Starc could be dropped from the side for the Test series against South Africa if he fails to regain his much-vaunted swing.
Mitchell Starc endured a horrible outing in the recently concluded Test series against India and his place in the side has come under the scanner following lackluster performances in Sydney and Brisbane.
Starc, who started the series on a brilliant note by claiming eight wickets in the first two Tests, fell away substantially at the backend, managing just three scalps across the last two Tests.
He was taken to the cleaners by the likes of Shubman Gill on the final day of the series during Australia’s defense of 328. Speaking on cricket.com.au, Ricky Ponting said that unless Mitchell Starc gets his swing, he might well be dropped from the Test team.
With no domestic FC cricket to fall back on, Ricky Ponting said that Starc needs to impress the coaches during the training sessions.
”It all depends on what he does between now and then in the nets, it’s as simple as that. We’ve been talking about how he just didn’t swing the ball. He swung the ball beautifully in the first two Tests but didn’t swing it after that,” said Ricky Ponting.
“That must be a technique thing, whether he was a bit tired or fatigued. But if he can do something to prove to … the coaches around the squad that he’s swinging that new ball, in South Africa the ball does move and we know how dangerous he is when the ball does swing,” he further added.
Pacer Jhye Richardson has impressed one and all with his wicket-taking ability in the ongoing Big Bash League. With his ability to swing the ball and take wickets early on in the innings, Ricky Ponting has reckoned that if Mitchell Starc does not regains his mojo then Richardson can be his perfect replacement.
“But we also know that there might be someone better to play if he’s not swinging the ball. It’s up to him; if he can get some remedial work done to sort his technique out and he starts swinging the ball in the nets, I’d play him for sure,” Ponting said.
“He’s just a quality new-ball bowler. And if there are question marks around Starc and you need someone to swing that new ball, he fits that mould really well. We saw that on his (Test) debut — he can swing the ball,” he added.
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