Chief selector Bailey defends Starc's omission for Afghanistan clash

Australia's chief selector George Bailey has defended Mitchell Starc's omission from the playing XI for the clash against Afghanistan in the Super 12 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Starc was surprisingly left out of the XI in favour of Kane Richardson in the crucial clash that Australia needed to win by a huge margin in order to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

Afghanistan eventually came very close to the target of 169 that Australia had set and lost the game only by four runs. As a result, Australia failed to overhaul England's net run rate and crashed out of the competition. Bailey said Starc's declining numbers at the death was the primary reason behind his exclusion in the XI.

"It was a little bit around his death bowling," Bailey pointed out. "Due to the fact we were bringing Cameron Green in who can do a really good job through the middle and I think he did the other night, it was about attacking a bit earlier.

"We've been pretty consistent with using Patty and Josh through the Powerplay and it meant we were going to look to use them a little earlier, then to push through the middle with 'Zamps' (leg-spinner Adam Zampa). It was a tactical decision, it was a match-up decision. People can make of that what they will - and clearly are.

"To be clear, just because someone's not in an XI, it doesn't mean we think they're not a good player. It doesn't remove the fact of whatever they might have done for Australia in the past. Unfortunately you can only pick 11."

Bailey also went on to defend skipper Aaron Finch's contributions with the bat despite the fact that he finished the tournament with the highest average (53.50) by an Australian batter. Finch had a strike rate of just 110.30 in the tournament and his knock against Sri Lanka in particular where he made an unbeaten 31 off 42 balls came under the scanner despite Australia winning that game.

Finch's form in general in T20Is has dropped over the last two years and the 35-year-old recently stated that he will take a call on his future after the BBL season with next World Cup scheduled to be held in 2024.

"A lot of people were getting a little confused with one day cricket and T20 cricket," Bailey pointed out. "And there's a little bit of a difference there. A lot of teams have sort of had someone who played a bit of an anchor role and that seems to have been spruiked as a reason that other teams are having success. Finchy was almost morphing into that type of player for us. I think his record held up pretty well through the tournament."

Given Australia came into this tournament after clinching the same title just 12 months ago under Finch, Australia couldn't have afforded a change up top so late according to Bailey. "I do think a lot of people were judging the batsmanship and not the actual overall leadership and captaincy package, and the potential disruption that could have if you shift that late into a tournament. I think he played well. And now he's bought himself some time to make up his mind and see what he wants to do in the future."