Australia v India: Virat Kohli surprised by criticism of Mitchell Starc
Indian captain Virat Kohli says he's surprised with the magnitude of criticism aimed at Australian paceman Mitchell Starc.
The left-arm speedster finished the four-Test series with 13 wickets at 34.53, the worst average of any of Australia''s four main bowlers.
Starc has produced some wayward spells and set a record in the final Test for bowling the most overs (26) by an Australian in an innings without a maiden in a home Test since Australia reverted to six-ball overs in 1979-80.
Former Australian bowling stars Shane Warne and Mitchell Johnson were among those who criticised Starc during the series.
Kohli leaps to Starc's defence AAP
"He is a very skilful bowler, he has got the right mindset," said Kohli, who has captained Starc at Indian Premier (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"He has been your number one bowler for years now.
"I am a little surprised with the magnitude of the criticism that has come to him.
"If he is your best bowler, you give him space to work things out and not mount more pressure on him, because you don't want to lose a guy like that who is so skilled and wins games."
Questions have also been asked about the effectiveness of Australia's established bowling quartet of Starc, fellow paceman Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood and spinner, Nathan Lyon, who for the second straight summer took every wicket between them in a home series.
"I wouldn't say they bowled badly, I would look at it as we have batted well,' Kohli said.
"They have always bowled in areas which are challenging to you as a batsman.
"I think their bowling has been absolutely fine from where I see it."
Australian captain Tim Payne, who defended Starc earlier in the Test, said all his bowlers were fully fit.
"I think our bowlers at times bowled really well in this series, at times they didn't," Payne said.
"Sometimes that was due to the pressure they were put under by the Indian batsmen.
"The group of bowlers we have in this team have been fantastic for quite a while now.
"They didn't have their absolute best series but it's not easy at this level."
