'Had 5 Bad Balls, He Hit Them All For Six': Mitchell Starc Opens Up On Face-Off Against Rohit Sharma During T20 World Cup 2024

Australia left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc on Saturday opened up on his face-off against India skipper Rohit Sharma during his team's Super 8 clash against Men in Blue in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Australia's journey in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 ended abruptly, as they failed to advance past the Super Eight stage. Despite dominating earlier matches, they found themselves in a critical must-win scenario against India, following a defeat to Afghanistan.

In this crucial match, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma delivered a stunning performance, scoring 92 runs off just 41 balls, effectively knocking the wind out of Australia in the early exchange. (IND vs ZIM Live Streaming 4th T20I: When And Where To Watch India vs Zimbabwe Match Live On TV, Mobile Apps, Online)

Mitchell Starc experienced the full brunt of Rohit's assault, conceding 29 runs in a single over, including four sixes and a four. Looking back, Starc acknowledged Rohit's exceptional performance throughout the tournament and commended him for his brilliant and strategic use of the conditions in St Lucia. (India vs Pakistan World Championship Of Legends Final Live Streaming: When And Where To Watch IND-C vs PAK-C Match Live On TV, Mobile Apps, Online)

"I have played a lot against him. He had a good tournament, especially at the back end. I think he targeted that wind in St Lucia as well. It was the one end that went for lot more [runs] than the other. I think I had five bad balls and he hit them all for six, " Starc said speaking on the Willow Talk podcast hosted by Adam Peacock and Brad Haddin, according to ICC.

Mitchell Starc said  I bowled 5 bad balls in my spell vs India, Rohit Sharma smashed all of them for sixes Via LiSTNR Sport
 Here's the video, Rohit Sharma scored 29 Runs vs Mitchell Starc with WD #RohitSharma #INDvsZIM pic.twitter.com/P8iCKV3SIO

 Richard Kettleborough (@RichKettle07) July 11, 2024

Starc managed to redeem himself somewhat by taking the wicket of Rohit eight runs short of a century but the Indian skipper had already inflicted significant damage by then.

In favourable batting conditions, India set a challenging target of 206 runs for Australia to chase. Travis Head, aiming to replicate his heroics from the Cricket World Cup 2023 final, kept Australia in contention with a brisk 76 off 43 balls.

However, Jasprit Bumrah's crucial breakthrough tilted the balance and despite Head's efforts, Australia ultimately fell short by 24 runs in their pursuit.

"We thought it [target] was close to par, maybe a little bit over par but it was the best wicket at the World Cup that we played on. It was probably the quickest wicket. (It was) certainly chaseable, we were on target for a while and a couple of hiccups and some good bowling from them just set us back," Starc added.

Australia were well on track to reach the final four, going unbeaten in the tournament until they came against Afghanistan and India. Their first stumble came against Afghanistan, who buried the ghosts of the Glenn Maxwell special and the heartbreak of CWC23 with a hard-fought 23-run victory.

When quizzed about where it all went wrong for Australia, Starc said with a smile, "Two losses [against Afghanistan and India]. Think our fielding was a little bit short throughout the whole tournament".

"The last two games that we played wasn't our best cricket and not the result we wanted. It was probably a misread of conditions in that Afghanistan game. They obviously played some good cricket and we probably didn't play our best," the left-arm seamer concluded.