T20 World Cup 2021: Australia going in full strength, wants nothing less than title, says Starc
In the six past editions of the T20 World Cup, Australia has reached the final only once - in 2010 when it lost to England.
Published : Oct 17, 2021 16:22 IST
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc on Sunday asserted it they can defy its recent slide in the shortest format and win the T20 World Cup since it was going into the tournament full-strength.
Australia has just six wins from its last 21 games in T20 cricket and has lost five consecutive series - against England, India, New Zealand, the West Indies and Bangladesh.
"We had some really young, inexperienced players and some young guys playing their first games of cricket for Australia come into some really foreign conditions and thrown in the deep end really quickly," Starc told reporters.
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"We have had to navigate a few difficulties, being back home for the guys that have been in lockdown in Sydney or Melbourne or playing very little amount of cricket for their states."
Starc said Australia's slide from being at the top in May last year to seventh in the T20 rankings is misleading and irrelevant to the T20 World Cup.
"It's a huge positive that we have got our full-strength team here available to us for the World Cup. Obviously we didn't have that through the West Indies and Bangladesh," Starc said.
"Obviously we have had a few guys here in the IPL as well so it's a mixed bag of preparation for everyone. Some have been playing some cricket, some have been trying to find ways to prepare for this tour."
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In the six past editions of the T20 World Cup, Australia has reached the final only once - in 2010 when it lost to England.
"It's no secret that we haven't won a T20 World Cup so I'm looking forward to hopefully being a part of our first one," Starc said.
"We have got our full-strength team available ... it's up to us now. We have set out to win the World Cup. We don't want anything less," said the 31-year-old left-arm pacer.
Australia begin its campaign against South Africa on October 23.