MITCHELL STARC
Mitchell Starc is a tall Australian Left-Arm Fast Bowler who currently plays for The Australian Cricket team and is one of Australia’s strike bowler and is also one of the fastest bowlers in the world. Starc has bowled the fastest ball in test cricket so far which is 160.4 kmph to Ross Taylor.
Starc picked up the highest number of wickets in the 2015 World Cup and 2019 World Cup. He made his international ODI debut back in 2010 and Test Debut in 2011, ever since then he has been one of the most successful bowlers in cricket.
TRENT BOULT
Trent Boult is also a Left-Arm fast bowler but who plays for NewZealand and is currently playing for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League and plays for Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic cricket.
Boult isn’t as tall as Starc but still generates a decent pace of 135-140 kmph but can definitely swing the ball more than Starc. Boult made his ODI and Test debut back in 2011 and was also the joint highest wicket-taker with Starc in the 2015 World Cup.
MITCHELL STARC TEST STATS
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Runs | Best Figures | Economy | Avg | SR | 5W |
| 57 | 101 | 244 | 6583 | 6/50 | 3.36 | 27.0 | 48.2 | 13 |
TRENT BOULT TEST STATS
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Runs | Best Figures | Economy | Avg | SR | 5W |
| 67 | 127 | 267 | 7384 | 6/30 | 2.97 | 27.6 | 55.7 | 8 |
The Test Match Stats of Starc and Boult are almost similar, but Boult has played 10 more matches than Starc. Even though Boult has played more matches than Starc, Starc still has more 5 Wicket Hauls to his name. The Strike Rate of Starc is also better than that of Boult’s.
MITCHELL STARC ODI STATS:
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Runs | Best Figures | Economy | Avg | SR | 5W |
| 91 | 91 | 178 | 3956 | 6/28 | 5.10 | 22.2 | 26.1 | 7 |
TRENT BOULT ODI STATS
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Runs | Best Figures | Economy | Avg | SR | 5W |
| 90 | 90 | 164 | 4148 | 7/34 | 5.03 | 25.3 | 30.1 | 5 |
Here we can see that Starc has just played 1 more match than Boult and still has picked up more wickets than Boult and has also conceded lesser runs than Boult. Starc also has a slightly better Average and Strike Rate than Boult.
MITCHELL STARC T20I STATS
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Runs | Best Figures | Economy | Avg | SR | 5W |
| 31 | 31 | 43 | 802 | 3/11 | 6.91 | 18.6 | 16.2 | 0 |
TRENT BOULT T20I STATS
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Runs | Best Figures | Economy | Avg | SR | 5W |
| 33 | 33 | 39 | 854 | 4/34 | 8.64 | 21.9 | 15.2 | 0 |
Even though Starc has played 2 matches lesser than Boult he still has picked up more wickets than Boult. Boult’s strike rate is better than Starc’s but his economy is not up to the mark.
Difference in Bowling Style
From the above two pictures, we can see that Starc’s back foot is straight whereas Boult’s is slanting towards the side. This is because Starc is a Front on bowler and Boult is a semi-side on bowler. Side-on or Semi-Side on bowlers tend to get more away swing than Front-on bowlers. This is the main reason why Boult swings the ball more than Starc.
Front on bowlers tend to generate more pace and require a long and fast run-up. Boult is a lethal bowler on a gloomy day with a green deck whereas Starc is lethal on Fast and bouncy tracks like Perth.
Starc’s change in action:
In the first picture, we can see that Starc loads right above his ahead whereas in the second picture he loads right next to his chest. He personally said in an interview that he feels he gets more control over the ball when he loads right next to his chest(picture2).
He changed his action in the test series against Pakistan in November 2019. This change in action worked immediately as he picked up 14 wickets in just 4 Innings. This change in action also resulted in Starc swinging the ball more than he used to.
Trent Boult’s high extended Non-Bowling Arm:
Since Boult is not that tall, he uses his non-Bowling arm to the maximum to deliver the ball at a greater pace. Extending the NonBowling arm and pulling it during the release of the ball will increase the pace of the ball. This is one of the main reasons why Boult manages to bowl 140+Kmph.
STARC VS BOULT IPL Analysis:
Starc has not had a long IPL Run so far as he only played a couple of years (2014,2015) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Boult made his IPL debut back in 2015 for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and currently plays for the Delhi Capitals.
Even though Starc has played lesser matches than Boult, he still is just 4 wickets lesser than Boult and also has a better economy and strike rate than Boult.
Mode of Wickets (Starc):
Mode of Wickets (Boult):
IPL Powerplay Analysis (First 26 Matches):
| Starc | Boult | |
| Wickets | 14 | 8 |
| Average | 23.7 | 41.5 |
| Strike Rate | 20.57 | 39.75 |
From the above Bar Graph and Table, we can easily conclude by saying that Starc bowls way better in the powerplay compared to Boult. This is because Starc is more accurate in his line and length and also bowls appropriately to the field set by the captain.
IPL Death overs Analysis (First 26 Matches):
| Starc | Boult | |
| Wickets | 25 | 23 |
| Average | 12.28 | 18.26 |
| Strike Rate | 9.52 | 10.95 |
| Economy | 7.74 | 10 |
Starc is again the better bowler when it comes to the death overs. The main part being the economy, as Starc has an economy only of 7.74 which is amazing for bowling in death overs especially in one of the best T20 Leagues as batsmen only try to hit boundaries in the death overs.
The main reason being Starc’s ability to bowl accurate Yorkers and also makes good use of the slow balls. Whereas, Boult isn’t that accurate when it comes to the death overs as he bowls most of the bowls in the Slot length where batsmen find it very easy to hit the ball for a 6.
Conclusion:
From this, we can conclude by saying that Starc is a better bowler than Boult in the IPL. Starc has not been part of the IPL for the past 4 Years due to Injuries and personal problems. If he ever makes a comeback to the IPL, he is a one to watch out for and he would be a strong contender for the purple cap award.
Author : SreeRam Sreedharan