Out-of-favour India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, who is one of the commentators for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy, has picked pacer Mitchell Starc to be the best bowler for Australia in the series against India so far.
Pujara showered praise on Starc, who he believes has improved drastically since their meeting in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar series. He also said that the left-arm quick has looked more dangerous than both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood so far.
“He has been the best bowler for them in this series. And the way Mitchell Starc has played in the last 1-1.5 years, he has brought a lot of improvement. And he has a lot of ability,” Pujara said on Star Sports.
“If I talk about my personal experience, when he used to play in the last series in 2018 or 2021, I used to feel that if he plays against me, I will get runs. And now, when he is playing in this series, it feels like he will take wickets. So what is the difference? The difference is that his line length, his accuracy has increased a lot. He is bowling very less loose deliveries. He is playing on the stump. Every ball is hitting on the good length spot. He is getting swing. So the change he has brought in his game has made him a different player. And he is looking more dangerous than Cummins and Hazlewood,” Pujara added.
The India star also pointed out that how the Men in Blue can neutralize Starc in the upcoming Test in Melbourne. According to him, the India batters will have to play well against Starc in his opening spell and try to tire him as much as they can.
“So we will have to take care of his game, especially from the new games. In the first 5 overs, his first spell, he has taken the most wickets there. So if there is a good batting in the first 5 overs, bring him for the 2nd or 3rd spell. Because he gets tired. So the batting of the top order so far, our top order has never played in the 3rd or 4th spell. The ones who have played are the lower middle order and the tail enders. And there we saw that when Bumrah and Akash were batting, when Mitchell Starc was bowling, he was not that effective. So they will have to play their new game well,” Pujara said.
The fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar series is set to commence on Boxing Day, December 26 and will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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