Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has said that an ankle injury was the main reason behind him skipping the ongoing Champions Trophy but has also said that “personal views” also contributed to the decision. Ahead of the start of the Champions Trophy, Starc had withdrawn from the tournament, becoming the third player from Australia’s first-choice pace attack to miss the tournament.
Cricket Australia at that time had stated that Starc had pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons. Now, speaking for the first time since pulling out of Champions Trophy, Starc has underlined that his primary concern remained fitness. Starc joined Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in missing the tournament. In their absence, Australia’s pace attack is being led by a group of young bowlers.
"There's a few different reasons, some personal views, and had a bit of ankle pain through the Test series. So just get that one right, obviously we've got the Test final coming up and a West Indies tour after that,” Starc told the Willow Talk podcast.
"There's some IPL cricket as well, but my main one top of my mind is that Test final so get my body right, play some cricket in the next couple of months and then ready to go for the Test final."
Starc is now gearing up to play for Delhi Capitals in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Post IPL, he will be getting ready to play the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s.