Mitchell Starc, who recently grabbed headlines after being bought for an Indian Premier League (IPL) record fee of INR 24.75 crore at the IPL 2024 auctions, has stated that he was "surprised" by the lack of express pace bowlers in the current Pakistan bowling attack.
Pakistan are currently in Australia for a three-match Test series. In the 1st Test, the hosts made light work of the visitors as they defeated them by an embarrassing 360-run margin.
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Chasing a target of 450, Pakistan were dismissed for just 89 runs in their 2nd innings, with Josh Hazlewood and Starc picking up three wickets each.
The Pakistani bowling lineup, spearheaded by Shaheen Afridi, lacked much zest and couldn't manage to bundle their opponents for cheap in either innings.
Starc pointed out one huge difference between pace bowlers from the current Pakistan bowling lineup and the bowlers from the past.
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Mitchell Starc: 'We were slightly surprised at the lower pace of the Pakistan bowlers'
The Australian pace attack was in the mood during the 1st Test, bowling consistently nagging lengths and clocking north of 140 clicks. On the contrary, the Pakistani pacers didn't manage to breach that mark consistently, which surprised the Australian team.
I think everyone was slightly surprised at the lower pace of the Pakistan bowlers when you're generally used to some guys getting in the 150s. I don't think that pace is the be all and end all but it certainly plays a part and can help.
Starc also stated that Scott Boland, who isn't blessed with the same pace as him or Pat Cummins, is an example of a bowler who doesn't need pace to be deadly.
Case in point, you look at Scotty Boland who can bowl good wheels, but he's not at your top end of pace bowlers. But he generates a lot of sideways movement here in Melbourne, obviously being his home ground.
He's done it for a long time and we saw that obviously against England [during the Ashes in 2021, where Boland picked 6/7 in his debut Test], where every ball he bowled could have been a wicket. Certainly, for our attack, we all complement each other well by doing things very differently.
When is the next Test between Australia and Pakistan?
The two sides will clash in the second Test of the series on December 26 in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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