“As An Older Player…”: Mitchell Starc Keeps Ego Aside, Reveals ‘Out-Of-The-Box’ Strategy vs SRH | Cricket News-OxBig News Network

After picking his maiden T20 fifer to help Delhi Capitals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in IPL 2025, veteran left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc said when a bowler gets old, one has to figure out different ways to get batters out in a match. At the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Starc picked an incredible 5-35 to help DC bowl out SRH for 163 in 18.4 overs. Three of his wickets – Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Travis Head – came in the power-play and pushed SRH on the backfoot while the remaining two scalps came in the back end of the innings.

“There’s no ego in bowlers these days. As a bowler, you got to think out of the box. You need to do things you wouldn’t normally do. It was nice to contribute in the win today, we move forward from here.”

“Guys know what I am going to do, so you need to think out of the box. As an older player, you need to find different ways to get batters out. Tried to bowl different balls today, was pretty effective I think,” said Starc after the match ended.

Starc now holds the record for the second-best bowling figures by a DC bowler in the IPL after veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra picked 5-17 against the Deccan Chargers in the tournament’s inaugural season in 2008.

He also reflected on the Axar Patel-led DC maintaining their unbeaten run in the competition so far. “It has been a good day with the ball, in the field and with the bat. It was a fantastic performance by us today.”

“It’s a new set of players, they have been fantastic. You get to play with new guys, it’s a great group of players. It’s a pretty young group to be fair, looking forward to playing more with them.”

Tristan Stubbs, who made 21 not out in DC completing the chase with four overs to spare, said the batters aimed to keep things simple on a pitch that wasn’t very easy to bat on. “It looked a little bit slow, it looked like it was spinning throughout the day and the cutters were really working. Didn’t seem like it was easiest to bat.”

“We kept it simple, and put the guys whoever they felt needed to be in the hot spots. At 10 overs, we were chatting about conserving our energy because it was really hot out there. Really good (team balance), Faf up top batted beautifully, he was amazing.”

Stubbs signed off by saying he’s trying to learn lots of things from DC mentor Kevin Pietersen. “The new guys coming in have done phenomenally, hopefully we can keep going. I have tried my best, I am trying to learn as much as I can from him (Kevin Pietersen). I ask many questions. Trust me I’m trying.”

–IANS

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