Australia star pacer Mitchell Starc on Wednesday pulled out of the upcoming edition of England's tournament- The Hundred on the eve of the tournament draft. Starc joined a list of International players who have already withdrawn from the English league, which starts on the 1st of August. Starc was recently seen in action during the ODI series against India.
The Australian quick could have taken one of five vacant £125,000 slots available for overseas players. Starc was in line to be a top draft pick by Superchargers for the 2022 draft but he pulled out before the registration deadline.
The 33-year-old is among the other international stars to miss out on the action in England. South Africa's Anrich Nortje, Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs are out of the league, while Australia's Jhye Richardson will also miss the action. There will also be absentees in the women's edition of The Hundred league. Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath will not mark their presence in England's league. The Hundred league will begin one day after the fifth test of the Ashes series is scheduled to end. But the reason for Starc's withdrawal is unknown.
Notably, Starc was the leading wicket-taker in Australia's just-completed ODI series against India. He took 8 wickets in 3 matches, including a five-wicket haul in the second ODI. Australia clinched the three-match ODI series against India when they won the third match in Chennai by 21 runs. Rohit Sharma's men were bowled out for 248 in their chase of 270. Virat Kohli hit a wonderful fifty, while the openers and middle-order contributed. But India lost key wickets at crucial moments and that took the match away from the hosts. Adam Zampa proved to be a big threat with his four-wicket haul. He took the crucial wickets of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja which proved to be match-turning. Shami inspired a bit of a fightback with a four and a six but it was way too much as India got bundled out for 248.
