"Test cricket still at top of the tree": Australia's Mitchell Starc

Melbourne [Australia], December 24 : Australian pacer Mitchell Starc said on Sunday that despite his recent record-breaking Indian Premier League (IPL) deal, Test cricket still remains his top priority.
In a history-making move, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc was bought by KKR for a whopping Rs 24.75 crore just hours after his skipper, Pat Cummins, breached the Rs 20 crore mark after being bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), becoming the most expensive player in the history of the IPL at the auction in Dubai on Tuesday.
After making history off the field, Starc's attention will turn to the all-important Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan, which will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26 onwards.
Starc has also clarified that his body will let him know when it is time to hang up his boots in Tests and it would be nice to play the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup next year in June at West Indies and USA.
"Red ball is still top of the tree for me," Starc told reporters at the MCG two days ahead of the match as quoted by cricket.com.au.
"I think my body will let me know (when it's time to give up) Test cricket before I want to, but it's an opportune year next year. It is a lot quieter, there's no Test match between the ones in New Zealand in March and the summer next year."
"There is a T20 World Cup, it is a nice lead-in to that with the IPL and the quality of cricket that tournament presents. In terms of the schedule, it is much more quiet," concluded the pacer.
With 338 wickets in 83 Tests, Starc is Australia's fifth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket in all-time charts. Overall, he has 647 wickets in 262 matches, which makes him Aussies' fourth-most successful bowler.
Starc has not played in the IPL since the last eight years, instead using the April-May window of the tournament to take some much-needed rest and spend time with his wife and Australian skipper Alyssa Healy. But the next year will be much quieter in international cricket, which has afforded Starc this opportunity to play the world's biggest T20 league.
Pat Cummins (3.67m USD) million and Travis Head (1.21m USD) were among other Aussie stars who got big money at the auction, picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad, joining fellow Test players David Warner, Mitch Marsh (both retained by Delhi Capitals) and Green (traded to Royal Challengers Bangalore) who will play in next year's IPL.
Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood both left unsold in the auction.
Starc said that a failed T20 World Cup title defence at home last year was not a motivating factor and instead voiced out that the time felt opportune to put his name back in the IPL auction list instead of bowling in the nets.
"I have not thought about it. It is just an opportune time to put my name back in (for the IPL) and see if I was wanted," he said.
"Instead of bowling in the nets in April and May - generally there is no better there (to face him) - so it is much more interesting to go and play in an IPL and test myself against the best," he added.
Including the Perth Test last week, Australia's seven Tests this summer, including three versus Pakistan and two each against West Indies and New Zealand are spread out over three months.
Starc is confident about playing all the Tests, built on how he overcame several physical issues, including groin and shoulder issues after the Ashes this year. He said that he had to tweak his training to get through the entire World Cup in India. He only missed just one match and saved his best for the semifinal and the final.
"I do not think you are ever 100 per cent, but I think I probably finished the World Cup better than I started in terms of how my body felt," he said.
"There were a few issues thereafter the Ashes that we didn't know about until we got home. We managed them pretty well through a World Cup and they looked after themselves enough to be able to perform at the back end."
"A couple of weeks in between then and getting stuck into the summer, and I feel in a really good place," he concluded.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner
Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.