Mitchell Starc Reveals Why He REALLY Pulled Out Of ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has opened up about the reasons behind him missing the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He said that he has an ankle issue and played through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India through the pain. He wanted to get it sorted out ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa.

"There are a few different reasons, some personal views," Starc said on the Willow Talk podcast.

"I had a bit of ankle pain through the [Border-Gavaskar] Test series, so I just need to get that one right. Obviously, we have the Test [Championship] final coming up and a West Indies tour after that.

"There is some IPL cricket as well, but the main one at the top of my mind is the Test final... get my body right, play some cricket in the next couple of months and then get ready to go for the Test final.

"We find ourselves sitting with a chance to win it for the second time on the trot."

Along with Starc, Josh Hazlewood and skipper Pat Cummins too missed the eight-team event due to an injury. Although Starc had initially said he pulled out of the tournament due to "personal reasons," he did not delve too much into it.

As a result, Australia went in with a new-look pace trio of Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis for the Champions Trophy opener against England. 

Their second game against South Africa was washed out without toss. As a result, their third and final group game against Afghanistan on February 28 (Friday) becomes vital, as a loss could see them crash out of the competition.