Virat Kohli surprised by criticism of Australia’s ‘No 1 quick’ Mitchell Starc

Virat Kohli is surprised by the criticism aimed at Australian bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc and believes Australia should give him time to work out his form issues.

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Virat Kohli is surprised by the criticism aimed at Australian bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc and believes Australia should give him time to work out his form issues.

Starc took just 13 wickets at 34 in the series and his former team-mate Mitchell Johnson suggested he should be rested for the pink ball Test against Sri Lanka in Brisbane later this month.

Starc’s form has been below his best but his former Indian Premier League team-mate Kohli feels he can regain his mojo.

Mitchell Starc had a series to forget. Picture: David Gray

“I have played with Mitchell - he is a very skilful bowler with the right mindset,’’ Kohli said.

“He has been their No 1 bowler for years now. I am a little surprised with the magnitude of the criticism.

“If he is your best bowler you give him time to work things out. Not mount more pressure on him because you don’t want to lose a guy like that who is so skilled and can win you games.’’

Virat Kohli threw his support behind the struggling quick. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

“I would not say they bowled badly. I would say we batted well. They have always bowled in areas which are challenging as a batsman.

“When we find wickets which are not doing much we can bowl stump to stump lines and place fieldsmen in the right positions because we are used to that but if you are not doing that day-in-day-out it is harder to do it.’’

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Australia will name its squad for the Sri Lankan series this week.

Given Starc’s prowess with the pink ball it would surprise if he was not selected but captain Tim Paine said the side was yet to be finalised.

“I’m not too sure, we’ll have that conversation in the next couple of days,’’ Paine said.

“I think all the bowlers are fully fit. Our bowlers at times bowled really well in this series, at times they didn’t.

“Sometimes that was due to the pressure they were put under by the Indian batsmen. The group of bowlers we have in this team have been fantastic for quite a while now. They didn’t have their absolute best series but it’s not easy at this level and that can happen.’’

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