Mitchell Starc is recovering from ankle surgery, although "everything will have to go perfectly" for him to have any chance of being available for the World Twenty20. Saeed Khan / AFP
Mitchell Starc is recovering from ankle surgery, although "everything will have to go perfectly" for him to have any chance of being available for the World Twenty20. Saeed Khan / AFP

Australia’s Mitchell Starc ‘very unlikely’ to recover from injury in time for World Twenty20



Fast bowler Mitchell Starc has all but written off his chances of making a faster-than-expected recovery from ankle surgery and playing a part in Australia’s bid for a first World Twenty20 title.

Starc, 25, had surgery on ankle spurs after sustaining a stress fracture in his foot during the inaugural day-night test against New Zealand in November.

Starc, the player of the tournament at last year’s 50-overs World Cup, was always an outside shot to make the March 11-April 3 World Twenty20 in India due to the estimated recuperation period and he was unable to offer a better prognosis on Wednesday.

“It’s very unlikely,” he said. “Everything would have to go perfectly to be any chance. I won’t know until I can start doing some stuff on it.

“I don’t want to rush it. I want to make sure it’s 100 percent because I’ve rushed back before and been dropped after a game.

“I’ve played probably non-stop for two years and the silver lining is I get to give the body a bit of a break and rebuild that strength. Make sure everything is 100 percent before I go again.”

Cricket's to-do list for 2016: India to arrive on time, Stokes be a hero, Amla to quit captaincy

Starc said the operation had gone well but it would be a while before he was bowling in excess of 150 kilometres per hour as he did in the second test against New Zealand in Perth in November, when one delivery was clocked at 160 kph.

“Everything had felt great on that day, so I think it just comes back to the rhythm and smoothness in my action on any given day,” said Starc, sporting a ‘moon boot’ to stabilise the injured joint.

“It’s going to take a while to get back to my bowling workload and get that rhythm back after spending some time out.

“It always takes some time to get that pace back. You obviously are not going to bowl at full pace soon as you come back, it takes a bit of time, so I’m not sure how it’s going to go.”

Starc will miss Australia’s one-day series against India, February’s two-test series in New Zealand and is not even certain he will be fit to play in the Indian Premier League in April and May.

It was probably modesty, however, that led him to question whether Australia’s main strike bowler would not ease straight back into the national side once he was fit again.

“I don’t think you can ever say 100 percent that you’ve cemented a spot,” he said.

“I’m still going to have to work my butt off when I get back to bowling to get my spot back. But I’d like to think in the last 10-12 months I’ve come a long way in all forms of cricket.”

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Wonder
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20EPD%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20Switch%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.