Fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis says the competition will be fierce to fill the void left by Mitchell Starc\u2019s retirement from Twenty20 internationals, as a clutch of Australian pacers jostle for a rare opening in the national team\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n
Starc, Australia\u2019s third-highest wicket-taker with 759 wickets across all \u200cformats, behind only Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, retired from T20 internationals in September last year. His departure has offered up a place in an Australian fast-bowling group long dominated by Starc alongside fellow pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.<\/p>\n
Dwarshuis, who made his international debut in 2022, has featured in only six one-day internationals and 15 T20Is, competing for selection with fellow pace bowlers such as Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett and Spencer \u2060Johnson. He noted that the competition is not only about raw pace but also fitness, consistency, and the ability to perform under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole heap of Australian bowlers who have sort of sat behind Mitch Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins, who have just done amazing things for Australian cricket and haven\u2019t really opened the door for anyone else to sort of take their spot,\u201d Dwarshuis told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\u201cMitch retiring obviously opens up a spot. There\u2019s a whole handful of guys that are trying to get into that spot. Competition\u2019s fierce, but knowing that there is a spot available means a potential avenue there if you perform.\u201d He also emphasized that building strong partnerships with other bowlers and backing the team strategy is crucial for securing a regular place in the national setup.<\/p>\n
Dwarshuis, who was signed by Indian Premier League side Punjab Kings for a whopping 44 million Indian rupees ($472,462), said franchise leagues have become an increasingly important shop window for players chasing international \u200cselection. The \u206031-year-old is the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of the Big Bash League with 164.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you take the field and have an opportunity to perform, there\u2019s always going to be eyes watching, whether it\u2019s from Australia or other leagues,\u201d Dwarshuis said. \u201cWith the viewership these competitions get, it\u2019s very easy to have a couple of good years and everyone\u2019s talking about you. But then \u2060if you\u2019re not performing well, that sort of viewership leads to maybe less opportunities there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Punjab, currently fifth in the IPL standings, opened their campaign with a three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans, a match in which Dwarshuis was not selected. He acknowledged the squad\u2019s \u2060depth, with New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson yet to join, but said he is \u201ca three-phase bowler and can bowl anytime throughout the 20 overs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what would be his prized wicket this season, Dwarshuis singled out India great \u2060Virat Kohli and said that dismissing top-order batsmen consistently would greatly enhance his chances of becoming a regular member of the Australian squad, especially in high-stakes T20 matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis says the competition will be fierce to fill the void left by Mitchell Starc\u2019s retirement from Twenty20 internationals, as a clutch of Australian pacers jostle for a rare opening in the national team\u2019s attack. Starc, Australia\u2019s third-highest wicket-taker with 759 wickets across all \u200cformats, behind only Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3568"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3574,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3568\/revisions\/3574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}