Mitchell Starc rejects ‘GOAT’ tag, says Wasim Akram is far better; Pakistan legend reacts
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Mitchell Starc produced yet another heroic show at the Gabba after he surpassed former legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram's tally of Test wickets. Starc, who still felt Wasim Akram was beyond comparison, was eventually handed the baton by the Pakistan legend himself.
The Ashes contest marked Mitchell Starc's bamboozling of the English batters with some aggressive band of fast bowling. In Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood's absence, Starc is the only experienced bowler in the Australia deck, as Nathan Lyon was also benched for the second match in Brisbane.
However, just like the first match, where Starc ran a rampage with 10 wickets across the two innings of play, he once again grasped the opportunity and delivered with the new as well as the old ball. He also picked another first wicket in this innings.
"Wasim's still a far better bowler than I am," Mitchell Starc says with humility
Mitchell Starc sat with 402 wickets before he arrived for the home Ashes. He picked up a 7-wicket haul and his career-best figures in the first innings of the Perth Test and backed it up with 3 more wickets in the second innings, thus adding 10 wickets to his pile.
After the remarkable show in Perth, Starc carried his royal form to the Gabba as well. First the English top-order, then their vice-captain, and lastly the lower order; he troubled all with the finest quality of pace bowling. Starc, anyway, has remarkable numbers with the pink ball.
Despite his record standing at 418* Test wickets, Starc kept his humility and claimed Wasim Akram would still remain as the finest ever left-arm pacer to have played the sport.
"I'll reflect on it later, Wasim's still a far better bowler than I am," Starc said.
"So as far as I'm concerned he's still the pinnacle of left-armers and certainly right up there with bowlers to ever play the game.
"So it's nice to be spoken of up around that, but I'll just try and keep churning a few out."
"Super Starc! Proud of you, mate," Wasim Akram himself passed the baton off to Starc
During this spell, he dismissed Harry Brook, which marked his 415th wicket in his International Test career. This took him ahead of Wasim Akram's tally of 414 Test wickets, and Starc went on to be the most successful left-arm pacer in the history of the game. He also surpassed Harbhajan Singh's wicket tally with his final wicket of Day 1.
After this remarkable feat, the Pakistan legend was quick to congratulate Mitchell Starc and officially hand him the baton for the greatest left-arm seamer of all time. He took to social media and congratulated Starc for his latest achievement.
"Super Starc! Proud of you, mate," Wasim wrote on X.
"Your incredible hard work sets you apart, and it was only a matter of time before you crossed my tally of wickets.
"I am pleased to give this to you! Go well, and keep soaring to new heights in your stellar career."
Mitchell Starc is the fourth-highest Test wicket-taker for Australia
With Mitchell Starc's 6-wicket haul in the first innings at the Gabba, he is the fourth-highest wicket-taker for Australia in Test cricket, only behind the likes of greats like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and his own teammate Nathan Lyon.
Nearing a record 750 wickets in international cricket for Australia, he has left behind Brett Lee and is only behind Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to be the third-highest wicket-taker in Australian cricket history.
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Australia National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team Australia vs England The Ashes Mitchell Starc Wasim Akram Pakistan National Cricket TeamAbout the Author
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