Mitchell Starc lacks the PR push but he's not far behind Jasprit Bumrah as this generation's finest

Jasprit Bumrah is hailed as the premier pacer of his generation, and not without reason, but Mitchell Starc isn’t too far behind.

Three weeks ago, Mitchell Starc was at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, hoping to cheer Australia, the defending champions led by his wife Alyssa Healy, to the final of the 50-over World Cup. The Aussies had cut a swathe through the draw, towering head and shoulders above the rest of the field, until they ran into a tartar in Jemimah Rodrigues and India in the semifinals.

Australia's Mitchell Starc acknowledges the crowd after his seven wicket haul. (REUTERS)

A record chase and a five-wicket victory were the precursors to India’s conquest of South Africa in an emotional final three nights later, but by then, Starc had flown back home to further his preparation for the Ashes. The 35-year-old knew that an even bigger role than usual awaited him in the absence of his skipper and pace bowling comrade, Pat Cummins, still to recover from a back injury sustained in the Caribbean in July.

That was bad enough, but it wasn’t the end of the Australian pace woes. Josh Hazlewood, Starc’s long-serving new-ball partner, too, was ruled out of the series opener against England in Perth with a hamstring injury. Suddenly, despite the presence of the mercurial Scott Boland, Australia’s pace attack was reduced to Starc and the rest; after all, how do you reconcile the loss of 147 Test caps and 604 wickets in one fell swoop?

Fear not, said one of the greatest left-arm pacers of all time. He might have flirted with the tag of the ‘best ever’ were it not for that genius from Pakistan, Wasim Akram. But Starc is a champion in his own right, and he once again stood up when it mattered most, on the opening day of the most widely anticipated showdown in the Test game.

After Ben Stokes opted to bat, Starc took just six deliveries to get down to business, forcing Zak Crawley into an expansive drive that was gobbled up in the slip cordon. It was a record-extending 24th time that Starc had taken a wicket in the first over of a Test innings. That alone ought to be sufficient for him to earn a spot in the pantheon.

But, of course, there is more to Starc than just 24 first-over successes, however impressive that might be. After Friday’s exchanges at the Optus Stadium against the old foe, Starc boasts a staggering 409 wickets halfway through his 101st Test. Seven for 58 from 12.5 hostile overs constituted his best bowling effort in a Test innings. No Cummins, no Hazlewood? No problem. 35? Not an issue. Too old? Heylo, for what?

On air after he squared up Joe Root and dismissed him for a seventh-ball duck, Kerry O’Keefe observed that Starc hadn’t perhaps got the due he deserved for his exploits across formats. It’s hard to disagree with the former leg-spinner. Starc boasts 726 international wickets, has terrific strike-rates in all three formats, yet it’s as if he is an afterthought, taken for granted and less eulogised than his compatriots, of whom Cummins has stolen the march with both his charisma and his leadership role.

Starc is at his deadliest best when he gets the ball to duck into the right-handers at pace. Despite more than 27,000 deliveries under his belt at the international level alone, he tops 140 kmph consistently and effortlessly, byproducts of a supremely fit body and a smooth, easy run-up segueing into a flowing action that places minimal stress on his torso. Like any fast bowler, the towering New South Welshman has had his dalliances with injuries, though none of them have been serious enough to keep him on the sidelines for long stretches. He has often powered through the pain barrier, making light of side strains and ankle sprains, not bothering about the lack of plaudits that his commitment and resilience ought to have automatically attracted.

Putting country ahead of personal gain, Starc steadfastly stayed away from the Indian Premier League for nearly a decade after two seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore (as it was then), which brought him 34 wickets in 27 matches in 2014 and 2015. It wasn’t until 2024 that he returned to the competition, ahead of the T20 World Cup, when he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for a mammoth ₹24.75 crore. He justified the price tag with 17 wickets in 14 games as KKR clinched their third title, and when he was released into the auction pool, he went for ₹11.75 crore to Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2025, the latter stages of which he missed so that he could prepare for the World Test Championship final against South Africa. In an image-driven age, Starc perhaps doesn’t have the right PR team because his decision to forgo large sums of money in order to prolong his international career has largely gone unacknowledged, let alone appreciated.

Jasprit Bumrah is hailed as the premier pacer of his generation, and not without reason, but Starc isn’t too far behind. True, he isn’t as consistent a threat as his Indian counterpart in all conditions and sometimes has the propensity to spray the ball around, but hey, when he gets it right, like he did on Friday, he is a million dollars. And counting.