No 'sob story' for hobbled Starc ahead of semi-final

Mitchell Starc remains short of full fitness and admits he has not lived up to the heights of his standout 2015 and 2019 World Cup campaigns, but will not let that affect his pursuit of a third global limited-overs title this week.

Starc is still carrying injury niggles that date back to this year’s Ashes series, leaving Australia's selectors and medical staff to overrule his objections and rest him from their final group match against Bangladesh on Saturday.

"I didn't have much of a say in the decision," said the 33-year-old. "I've carried a few things from the Ashes and it was a chance to give them an extra chance (to recover) before the semi-finals."

Starc finished this year’s Test tour of the United Kingdom, where he played five of a possible six Tests across the World Test Championship final and Ashes series, with shoulder and groin issues.

The speedster declined to reveal whether they remain his chief injury concerns, insisting he would be fine to play in Thursday's semi-final against South Africa in Kolkata.

"If I only played when I was 100 per cent, I would have probably played 10 games," he said. "All bowlers around the world deal with stuff, we just don’t have to talk about it like batters do."

Starc's major improvements as a red-ball bowler culminated in him being named Australia's player of the Ashes but he concedes he has fallen short of his 50-over best in this year's World Cup after being the leading wicket taker at its last two editions.

At this event, he has managed 10 wickets at 43.90, conceding 6.55 per over.

The left-armer, who admits his desire for a return to one new ball instead of two in ODI cricket will likely fall on deaf ears, pointed out those two fresh Kookaburras often tilt conditions heavily in the favour of batters at the start of an innings.

That has been particularly true before dusk in this tournament; Starc has not taken a single Powerplay wicket when he has bowled with the sun was out (that is, the four games he played that Australia bowled first in, plus the day game against New Zealand).

The lack of reverse swing at the end of an innings due to each ball only getting 25 overs of wear and tear, compared to the full 50 when only one ball was used in one-day cricket, has also decreased Starc's effectiveness at the death.

"There's a lot of contributing factors," he said. "The wickets have certainly been two very different wickets, what gets through the day and through the night.

"Speed is not the be-all and end-all over here in India as well. How you go about that tactically, and whether it's variations or what time you bowl through a game, or whether you win or lose a toss (can affect potency).

"I certainly haven't been at the level that I would have liked. I certainly take some (responsibility) on myself there that, I'm not to the same level as the last two World Cups anyway.

"But now there's a chance at the pointy end to make the biggest impact."

Presented with a dewy, skiddy pitch under lights, when new balls have zipped around and swung more at several venues during this tournament, Starc has been a handful.

He took Powerplay wickets against India, the Netherlands and England and was unfortunate not to take more in all three games. Only in the Pakistan match did he bowl at night and not strike with the new ball.

"Certainly bowling first on particular wickets, the new ball, with two fielders out, has almost sometimes been the hardest time to bowl," said Starc.

"We get a bit of an understanding of the wickets whilst the game goes on and whether they slow up or the ball gets softer.

"That's not a sob story – that's the nature of one-day cricket, and at the minute you've got two brand new balls on flat wickets. I think that's the nature of the World Cup.

"If you look at the runs scored, or certainly the centuries scored as opposed to five-wicket (hauls) taken, the ratio is heavily skewed but that's the nature of the World Cup, certainly on the nature of the wickets over here.

"Bowlers just have to find a way and get used to it."

Having been part of Australia's 2015 ODI and 2021 T20 World Cup wins, Starc insisted he would not be overawed by occasion of a knockout match on Thursday at the famed Eden Gardens.

"Whether it's goosebumps or not, it's just another game," he said. "I've played a lot of one-day cricket … (performing in big matches) is not something that's really spoken about.

"It's a very calm group, this one, and fairly experienced with a couple of younger, less experienced guys gelling in really nicely."

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs

October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets

October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs

October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs

October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs

November 4: Beat England by 33 runs

November 7: Beat Afghanistan by three wickets

November 11: Beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

November 16: Second semi-final v South Africa, Kolkata, 7.30pm AEDT

November 19: Final, Ahmedabad, 7.30pm AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

2023 World Cup standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 India Men IND	9	9	0	0	0	2.57	0	18
2 South Africa Men SA	9	7	2	0	0	1.261	0	14
3 Australia Men AUS	9	7	2	0	0	0.841	0	14
4 New Zealand Men NZ	9	5	4	0	0	0.743	0	10
5 Pakistan Men PAK	9	4	5	0	0	-0.199	0	8
6 Afghanistan Men AFG	9	4	5	0	0	-0.336	0	8
7 England Men ENG	9	3	6	0	0	-0.572	0	6
8 Bangladesh Men BAN	9	2	7	0	0	-1.087	0	4
9 Sri Lanka Men SL	9	2	7	0	0	-1.419	0	4
10 Netherlands Men NED	9	2	7	0	0	-1.825	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points