Starc, Zampa will be important for Australia in ODI World Cup: Ponting
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting expects veteran fast bowler Mitchell Starc and leg-spinner Adam Zampa to play a key role for his team in the ODI World Cup to be held in India this year. The 33-year-old Starc was in scintillating form during the recent three-ODI series against India, taking eight wickets. He took five wickets in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam. Australia won the series 2–1.
After being ignored for the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Zampa also returned to form in the ODIs, taking four wickets in the decisive third ODI in Chennai as Australia won by 21 runs. Ponting said in the ICC Review on Tuesday, “Mitchell Stark is the complete package. He is six feet five inches tall, bowls at a speed of over 140 kmph. He is a left-arm bowler and he swings the new ball inwards like what happened with Suryakumar Yadav (during the ODI series).
Starc was the most successful bowler of the 2019 World Cup while in 2015 he shared the honor with New Zealand’s Trent Boult. Ponting said, “When he is in rhythm, he is as good as any bowler in the world and he has been doing it for a long time. For various strange reasons, there have always been some people targeting Mitchell Starc for his performance but if you look at the facts, especially in white ball cricket, his statistics are fantastic.
He said, “He showed in that series (against India) how dangerous he can be with the new ball no matter the conditions.” Coming back, the 31-year-old spinner showed how dangerous he can be in Indian conditions. The spinner is leading the World Cup Super League with 41 wickets in 18 matches at an average of 19.73.
Ponting said, “He has been probably Australia’s key bowler in white-ball cricket for a long time with Mitchell Starc.” Outstanding performance. He is the backbone of the Australian bowling attack which is why he was a bit disappointed at not getting a chance on the Test tour of India.
