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Dropping Mitchell Starc for left-arm spinner Ashton Agar vs Afghanistan was labelled a very “tough call” by Australia’s skipper and head coach, but both have doubled down on their decision and backed the call, even though the end result was a loss that has put their aims of qualifying for the semifinals of the tournament in the balance.
With the conditions at Arnos Vale favoring spin, Agar was effective in his bowling duties, giving away just 17 runs in his 4 overs even though he went wicketless. However, he was below-par in the outfield, giving away two cheap boundaries and dropping a half-chance.
“It’s always a tough decision to leave Mitch Starc out of a team,” Andrew McDonald, Australia’s coach said. “But from the way that the game unfolded, Ashton was suited to these conditions and we needed to make room. We knew we were going to need more than eight overs of spin on that surface and it’s probably something we’ve been planning and preparing for once we knew we were at this venue.
“It’s always a difficult decision. You never know whether you’re right or wrong, but I thought Ashton bowled incredibly well today, used his skill, some good arm-balls, found some purchase early and he made it tricky to navigate through those first few overs. We got two [overs] out [of him] in the powerplay which then set up the bowling for that end with him and Zamps operating. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take those early wickets.”
Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s captain, said Starc had been “unlucky” to miss out but added: “We’ve said right from the start of the tournament that we’ve got 15 guys here, and we’ll pick a team that we think can win us the game in those certain conditions, and everything pointed towards Ash… The reality is, when you’ve got this much talent, someone’s always unlucky to miss out.”
McDonald declared that the circumstances in St. Vincent had been as Australia had anticipated and that it was pointless to try to determine what could have happened if Starc had been chosen against Afghanistan. Because of the potency of Afghanistan’s spin attack and the characteristics of the Arnos Vale Ground pitch, they had long designated the match as potentially scary.
“When you’re hopping around the islands, the conditions change dramatically, and we got what we expected,” McDonald said. “I was comfortable with that decision and now we’ve got to turn our focus to India: a totally different line-up on a totally different surface, and we’ve got to make good decisions at the selection table.