Cheteshwar Pujara lauds Mitchell Starc, calls him the "best bowler" for Australia in BGT 2024-25

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara showered praise on seamer Mitchell Starc and said that the 34-year-old has been the "best bowler" for Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, reported Star Sports. The series is currently tied at 1-1 after India secured a draw in the third Test in Brisbane. The Boxing Day Test will kick off on December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Starc made his Test debut in 2011 against New Zealand. Following that, the 34-year-old has took part 92 Test matches and 176 innings, picking up 372 wickets at an economy rate of 3.42. The Aussies pacer has great numbers against India, he picked up 62 wickets after playing 21 Test matches against them.

In the ongoing BGT series, Starc has bagged 14 wickets at an everage of 22.86. He is currently the second highest wicket-taker in the series after Bumrah. Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, Pujara said that Starc has improved in the last 1.5 years.

"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. 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," Pujara was quoted in a release from Star Sports as saying.

He added that the Aussie pacer has increased his line length and accuracy while bowling.

"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," he added.

The veteran cricketer further added that Starc gets tired in the later half of the inning which helps the lower batting order to score runs.

"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," he concluded.

Earlier last week, Australia made a couple of changes to its squad, addressing the absence of Josh Hazlewood and concerns in the top order. The hosts have added Beau Webster, Jhye Richardson, and Sam Konstas have been added to the squad before the fourth Test match of the series. After a mild side strain in the Perth Test which ruled him out of the second Adelaide Test, Hazlewood did return for the third match in Brisbane but faced a calf strain during the warm-up on the fourth day.

He bowled one over and left the field for scans which confirmed the serious extent of his injury, ruling him out of the series. In the first Test at Perth, Hazlewood had taken five wickets, including a four-wicket haul in the first innings. Scott Boland will likely take Hazlewood's spot in Australia's playing eleven for the fourth Test, held at the MCG, starting from December 26 onwards.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (VC), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster. (ANI)