Australia are struggling in the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh at home in Darwin but from Mitchell Starc’s point of view, there is good news as on the second day on Friday he went past India great Kapil Dev on the Test wickets tally.
Starc, who on Thursday had removed opener Shadman Islam to equal Kapil’s record of 434 wickets in the longest format, picked up the wicket of Bangladesh wicketkeeper batsman Litton Das for a duck to move past the Indian legend into the 11th position among the highest wicket-takers in Tests.
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Starc is the second highest Australian pacer in Tests behind Glenn McGrath (563 wickets). Shane Warne and Nathan Lyon are the other two Aussie bowlers who have done better than him. The legendary Warne is the most successful Aussie Test bowler with 708 wickets. Lyon, on the other hand, has taken 568 wickets at the time of writing this article.
Starc is now just five wickets away from breaking into the top-10. Dale Steyn of South Africa is currently in the 10th position with 439 wickets, and knowing Starc over the years, he should get past the Proteas pacer at some point in the series. If not in the ongoing game, then for sure in the second and last game.
Bangladesh in total control!
Be that as it may, Australia are struggling at home against Bangladesh. In their reply to the hosts’ 198 all out in the first innings, Najmul Hossain Shanto’s men are looking good for a 200-run first-innings lead. On Thursday, 26-year-old Hasan Mahmud took the lead with figures of 6/55 to shock the Aussie batsmen in their own backyard. High-profile batsmen like Travis Head and Steve Smith, the highest scorer of the innings with 71, were among his victims.
“I think every five-for is important to me, and I’m very happy to get a five-for overseas. So, I really enjoy these conditions in Australia, you know, India and Pakistan [in these countries too he has taken a five-for] are very hot, but yeah, it has been a very good journey for me,” Mahmud told ABC Sport after his feat.
“Yeah, I was in Kent in Blackpool, and I got a 6-for there as well. And I’ve really enjoyed it in Kent because the conditions look similar in Australia and England. So I find it pretty, pretty good for the bowlers, obviously, and you know, when you get the new ball on a fresh wicket, and you get more bends, you get bounce, swing, and that’s how your confidence grows. So yeah, that’s helped me a lot,” he said when asked about his county cricket connection and how it helped him.