Mitchell Starc breaks a 23-year-old white-ball record

Starc has been a great white-ball bowler for Aus

Tearaway left-arm quick Mitchell Starc claimed his 200th ODI wicket in the third match against Zimbabwe in Townsville on Saturday.  One of Australia's key weapons in white ball cricket, Starc, became the fastest bowler to take 200 wickets in ODIs. In doing so, the left arm quick broke a 23 year old record held by Pakistan's legendary off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.  

While Mushtaq reached the milestone in 104 matches, The Aussie reached the same in 102. Zimbabwe's hard hitting batter Ryan Burl was his 200th victim when he spooned a catch to Cameron Green at mid-off.

Starc, who made his debut back in 2010 was integral to Australia's 2015 home World Cup triumph and also was the leading wicket taker in the 2019 World Cup as well.

Is Starc Australia's greatest ever white ball bowler?

Starc in action

The 32 year old's latest achievement only boosts his case for him to be considered as Australia's greatest ever white ball bowler. The tall fast bowler reached double century in fewer matches than some of Australia's legendary bowlers like Brett Lee (who took 112 ODIs), Shane Warne (125), Mitchell Johnson (129) and Glenn McGrath (133). 

Out of all the Aussies, only McGrath (22.02) has a better ODI bowling average than Starc (22.30 after the wicket of Burl) while none have a better strike-rate than his 26.20. Starc was the quickest ever to reach 100 ODI wickets back in 2016 (after 52 matches), although that mark was bettered in 2018 when Afghanistan spinner Rashid incredibly got there in eight fewer matches.

Also Read: AUS vs ZIM: Josh Hazlewood scalps 100 wickets in ODI cricket