"No Other Country Can Do That...": Australia Star's Huge Remark On India After Champions Trophy Win
Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has hailed one aspect of Indian cricket that no other nation can boast, according to him.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season gets underway on March 22, and is sure to provide yet more proof of the plethora of talent in the Indian domestic circuit and within Indian cricket. Following the arrival of head coach Gautam Gambhir, India have adopted a T20I squad far different to the Test setup, with different approaches and styles. While the IPL has played a role in making that a reality, Australia and Delhi Capitals (DC) pace spearhead Mitchell Starc is in awe of the talent in the country.
"I think they (India) are probably the only nation that can have a Test team, a one-day team, and a T20 team play on the same day against Australia in the Test, England in the one-dayer, and South Africa in the T20I, and India would be competitive. No other country can do that," Mitchell Starc said, speaking on the Fanatics TV channel.
India have already somewhat done this in the past, having sent a 'B team' with several first team regulars missing on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2021, with seniors resting for a tour of England later that month.
Now, India have fairly different lineups in red ball and white ball cricket, and even between T20Is and ODIs. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh feature heavily in T20Is, but are not in consideration for Test cricket.
Starc stated that the IPL is not the sole factor for the depth of talent that India have in all formats.
"The IPL helps, it's a great tournament, but you've got to have the talent there, and the depth in Indian cricket is huge," Starc said.
Meanwhile, Starc will be playing for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025, having been bought for Rs 11.75 crore in the mega auction.
Starc became the most expensive purchase in the history of IPL in 2024, after being bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 24.75 crore. He picked up 17 wickets for KKR, helping them to a third IPL title in 2024, including 'Player of the Match' performances in both the Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator.
For KKR, Starc was a senior pace figure to the likes of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora.
The left-arm seamer skipped the Champions Trophy 2025 for Australia, citing the need to stay fit for IPL 2025 and, more importantly, for the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June against South Africa.
Mitchell Starc
India Cricket Team