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Mitchell Starc hopes to find rhythm ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2017

When Mitchell Starc returned after seven-month layoff, he produced record-breaking performance that later turned out to be a forgettable tour for Australia.

Mitchell Starc has been out of action since 2nd Test against India due to foot injury © Getty Images
Mitchell Starc has been out of action since 2nd Test against India due to foot injury © Getty Images

Australia were severely affected by the absence of their pacer Mitchell Starc in 2016, who was out of action from international circuit for seven months due to foot injury. This year too, he has been out of action since the second Test against India due to foot injury, post which he returned home. Starc is now hopeful to be back to his rhythm ahead of the Champions Trophy, when he will be playing his first match against Pakistan in the warm-up. When Starc returned after seven-month layoff, he produced record-breaking performance that later turned out to be a forgettable tour for Australia. Starc had also missed out playing for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Australia have got plenty of time to wreak havoc on batsmen, says Mitchell Starc

Speaking on his fitness, Starc told cricket.com.au, “The last lay-off was seven months, but this one was only about six weeks. So even coming back into the nets, it didn’t feel like it took too long to get some good rhythm back. So hopefully it’s not like last time with such a big lay-off. I’m pretty confident with how it’s going, it’s feeling good in the nets and with the few centre wickets we’ve had. It’s been a while (since my last match). I’ve had plenty of time in the nets and up in Brisbane, but it’ll be nice to get out in the middle and bowl some overs in match-like conditions.”

Australia also have the big four in the pace department on their side who are raring to go especially after their injuries. “We’re looking forward to hopefully playing a few games together if the four of us get picked. But it’s great to have the four of us fit. Even if there are only three of us playing, we’ve got one on the side ready to go. We’ve all performed for Australia before and we’re looking forward in this tournament to performing again,” said an excited Starc on possibility of Australia fielding Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson and him together.

He added, “We’ve obviously come through the ranks together, we’ve played a lot together and against each other in the under-age stuff and heading into to domestic cricket. But we haven’t all been on the park at the same time for Australia. So I think it’s exciting for the four of us. We’re all a similar age and it’s been fantastic so far to tour together for the last week-and-a-half.”

Australia will be playing their first Champions Trophy match against New Zealand on June 2.

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