Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has expressed his surprise that Australian gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc has decided to retire from T20Is. Chopra reckons the Australian could have played the next T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in India in 2026.

Starc picked 79 T20I wickets in 65 matches for the Aussies at an economy rate of 7.74 and his last T20I appearance for the national team came in the 2024 T20 World Cup against India.

Starc played an instrumental role in Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup triumph in Dubai for Aaron Finch’s team. The left-arm seamer picked nine wickets in seven matches in the T20I showpiece.

“I am a little surprised. Mitchell Starc could have played a World Cup and said goodbye after that, but he didn’t wait for the World Cup. To be fair, he hasn’t played too many T20Is. He is an absolute gun bowler, but he is also someone who can be very expensive from time to time. You see how and wow with him many times in the shortest format,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

Meanwhile, the renowned commentator noted that Starc has announced his T20I retirement to prolong his Test career. Starc has always kept the red-ball version at the top of his priority list.

“Everyone has their own choice, and I feel the Australian and English cricketers don’t say goodbye to the Ashes so early. It’s a question of tradition. They are hard-wired in such a way that the Ashes are very, very important, and the ODI World Cup is very, very important. That’s how you grow up,” he said.

“You have T20 leagues to earn money. So that could be a thought process. The thought process that is right for them might not be right for us, but you should keep playing Test cricket as long as you can because too many ODIs aren’t played these days,” Chopra observed.

Starc will be next seen in action in the three-match ODI series against India.