Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has criticized media personnel for misquoting Josh Hazlewood and his remarks about potentially knocking England out of the T20 World Cup 2024. Before Australia’s match against Scotland, Hazlewood humorously remarked that England could be knocked out if Australia lost, which ignited controversy regarding the team’s mindset and strategy.
Australia secured their spot in the super eights by defeating Scotland by five wickets, advancing to Group 1, while England won their last match against Namibia and moved to Group 2. Amidst the uproar, Australian pace duo Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have come to Hazlewood’s defense, clarifying his statements and slamming the media for their portrayal.
Mitchell Starc Condemns Media for Exaggerating Hazlewood’s Comments
In a recent interview, Starc highlighted how the media exaggerated Hazlewood’s comments. He emphasized that England’s progression to a different group would not impact Australia’s performance in their upcoming games.
“You don’t stuff around with mother cricket and try to worry about other results. We’re here to win games. It’s international cricket. England now are on the other side of the draw, so it really doesn’t make that much difference for the next three games. So yeah, I think that was blown right out of proportion by you guys,” Mitchell Starc stated.
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Looking ahead, Starc mentioned that Australia’s upcoming match against India at the same venue would be a crucial encounter for both teams.
“We have another game here [against India] in the Super Eight, so [it was about] getting accustomed to or having a look at conditions here as well… having some batting time into our middle order and some of our spinners obviously getting some time in different situations in the bowling innings, it was a good hit out. That was all we wanted and then we pushed onto the Super Eights,” Starc added.
Australia is set to play their first super eights match against Bangladesh on June 21, Friday, and will face India on June 24 for the last match of the Group 1 stage. The Kangaroos aim to build on their momentum and focus on winning crucial games as the tournament progresses towards the knockout clashes.
