Mitchell Starc Becomes Fourth Australian Bowler to Take 700 International Wickets

In the ongoing Test series between Sri Lanka and Australia at Galle, the Australian star fast bowler Mitchell Starc has dismissed the Sri Lankan batter Dimuth Karunaratne to achieve a historic milestone of completing 700 international wickets across all the international formats on his 35th birthday. 

Mitchell Starc started his international career in 2010 against India at Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium. Starc reached this amazing feat through years of so much hard work, dedication, and skill. His excellent ability to swing the ball and take important wickets for Australia has made him one of the most dangerous bowlers in the game. 

- 377 wickets in Tests.
- 244 wickets in ODIs.
- 79 wickets in T20Is.

MITCHELL STARC COMPLETED 700 WICKETS IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET 🔥 pic.twitter.com/eohnIRA4QJ

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 30, 2025

With this historic milestone, Starc has joined an elite list with Bangladesh star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as only the second active cricketer to take 700 international wickets. Among the Indian players, experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is the closest with 597 wickets.

The left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc is now the fourth Australian bowler to reach this milestone. Starc took 287 matches to complete 700 international wickets. The Australian great spinner Shane Warne leads the list with 1001 wickets, followed by the right-arm fast-medium pacer Glenn McGrath with 948 wickets, and the Australian fast bowler Brett Lee with 718 wickets. And also Strac becomes the only third left-arm pacer to take 700 international wickets.

Today, Mitchell Starc became Only 3rd Left arm pacer to Pick 700 Wickets in Intl Cricket

916 - Wasim Akram
761 - Chaminda Vaas
700 - Mitchell Starc*
611 - Trent Boult
610 - Zaheer Khan
590 - Mitchell Johnson#SLvsAUS pic.twitter.com/GxkXwZVTrN

— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) January 30, 2025

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Australian Batters Dominates in Galle

Australian batters started the innings with a strong opening partnership between Travis Head and Usman Khawaja. Then the Australian captain Steven Smith continued his excellent form with a century against Sri Lanka. The debutant wicketkeeper batter Josh Inglis also scored a 90-ball hundred and became the second-fastest player to score a Test hundred on debut. 

With the three centurions, the Australian batters dominated the Sri Lankan bowlers. The Australian team scored a massive 654 runs with the loss of 6 wickets in their first innings. The Sri Lankan batters had a tough time in their home ground. Sri Lanka lost three wickets for 44 runs at the end of Day 2. 

ALSO READ: Josh Inglis shines on Test debut with a century against Sri Lanka in Galle