Overview
- Mitchell Starc entered the Bangladesh series window on Thursday with 433 Test wickets and needs one to equal Kapil Dev’s 434 and several across the two matches to overtake Dale Steyn’s 439.
- Australia will play a two-Test home series beginning August 13 in Darwin and continuing in Mackay from August 22, and the squad named for the series includes captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and recalled spinner Nathan Lyon.
- Starc has publicly downplayed the chase, saying the talk is humbling but that personal records mean little while he is still playing and that his focus is on team objectives.
- His current form is strong: Starc leads the ongoing World Test Championship wicket charts with 46 scalps from eight matches and produced 31 wickets in the recent Ashes, which he credits to fitness, experience and technical tweaks such as the wobble seam.
- If Starc moves past Kapil Dev and Dale Steyn he would rise into elite company among fast bowlers and those wickets would directly contribute WTC points that help Australia’s bid to qualify for the WTC final at The Oval.