Mitchell Starc is not expecting a high-scoring T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA to be any near close to the ongoing Indian Premier League(IPL). More than half of the IPL is done and the batting levels in the IPL have gone to a different level with a total of 200 no more being considered safe for a team batting first, 250 is the current norm. Even a total around that wasn't proved to be safe as the Kings from Punjab overhauled a steep target of 262 in 18.5 overs posted by the Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR). Sunrisers even came close to breaching the 300 mark.
Starc however had an explanation to justify his statement as to why there won't be many high scores in the showpiece event,
Starc quipped "There's no Impact Player rule (in international cricket), so whether that affects the scores is yet to be seen," said Starc. "I think it probably will. People talk about the balance of the team when you can't just bring someone in. Your all-rounders come back into play. Captains have to think a bit tactically, too, when you have just 11 players. It's been interesting to experience it first-hand in the IPL."
Impact Player Rule came into the limelight in the 2023 season and since it has received a mixed response both from the fans and from the players themselves. This rule has made IPL a 12 vs 12 battle which hasn't gone down well with the Cricket experts many believe that it has limited the use of an All-Rounder, while with this rule team adding an extra batter creates more pressure on the bowlers, who are already bowling on tiny grounds having flat decks.
Just like any other franchise KKR too used this rule in their game against Mumbai Indians. KKR were struggling being reduced to 57-5 at the halfway mark, they added Manish Pandey to the Lineup and he added crucial 83 runs with Venkatesh Iyer.
"The Impact Player rule changes things a fair bit. Everyone gets to bat a lot deeper having a batting and a bowling XI. There's a lot made of that rule throughout the tournament and there's been a lot of high scores, which is the nature of the wickets and the grounds we play on here. When you have batters and batting allrounders come in at Nos. 8 or 9, it's a long batting line-up.
"There's no fear in the powerplay when all you have to do is to clear the infield and score runs. Certainly, there has been some really good batting, don't get me wrong, it's not just the rules that play a part there. There's been some fantastic scoring, some fantastic partnerships and some individual brilliance with the bat."
Before the clash against Mumbai Mitchell Starc was having a shocker of a season as he conceded more than 100 runs in his first two games, the leakage continued to grow at a big level so much so that he had to be benched for one game, But come the game against MI at Wankhede Starc looked hungry for redemption and he roared back in style with snaring 4 scalps and all but ending Mumbai's horrible campaign this season.
"I haven't changed too much," he said. "It's about assessing conditions after the first innings. We certainly spoke about it and the batters that came off throughout that first innings mentioned the wicket and the lengths that were the hardest to face. That created the bowling plans for us."
"As T20 cricket doesn't always go the way you want it to go, and of course I wanted to go a bit better at the start. But I am not the only bowler going for runs. It is what it is. The fact that we sit second [on the points table] and are building towards the more important games at the back end and are playing some good cricket, hopefully I can be a part of it too."
Mitchell Starc opted to make a return to the IPL and the result was a record-breaking deal at the auction table. While the gap between the end of the IPL season and the start of the World Cup is just about a week, Starc is confident that his body can cope with the turnaround.
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