How a relaxed Mitchell Starc stunned India’s batting line-up with swing and sting Cricket News

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At the start of the Perth Test, there were two questions about the Indians. What if Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t strike and the ball goes all around what happens to the Indian batsmen? Bumrah and Co. responded brilliantly in both innings of the first Test, but those questions returned after India were bowled out for 180 in Adelaide. The batsmen are yet to respond positively – they did in the second innings of the first Test but the pitch conditions were very different from the first day in Perth. Now the question is circling the Adelaide night air whether the Indian bowlers can jailbreak again on day two after their middling performance on Friday evening.

A bowling attack with purpose, imagination and planning in the first Test was a bit unsettled due to their line and length. With Australia’s Mitchell Starc leading the way with his attack and ability to swing the pink ball, their under-fire batsmen Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschran played a dogged hand to take them to 86 for 1.

Starc’s six shocked India with how relaxed he had been throughout the day, compared to his usual demeanor. Not only after the wicket, but his state of mind seemed to be chosen. First ball wicket, a beautiful curler from the leg stump line that helped trap Yashasvi Jaiswal, but it was a joyous Starc who unleashed a crack of doom on the Indians. Not an intense Stark, not an angry Stark, not an out-to-prove-a-point Stark, but a happy smiling version that did the trick.

The takeaway from India’s effort was that the batsmen cannot let slip in good positions, and hope Bumrah continues to bail them out. India slumped from 69 for 1 to 81 for 4, with Starc and Scott Boland, who replaced Josh Hazlewood, tightening the second session. And when Pat Cummins, who still hasn’t reached his peak series, hit a snorter to shock Rishabh Pant who couldn’t stop it in the slips, the writing was on the wall.

Swing dividends

Among all the bowlers from both the teams, only Starc is a perfect swinger of the ball. The rest often tend to seam around the ball. At least on this day, perhaps because of the sloppy conditions above, the pink ball gave the bowler the skill to swing rather than seam. Although it must be said that Scott Boland, who hit the deck and nip back the ball, was also impressive in stages. This did not prevent the Indian bowlers from playing the Australian batsmen more often. Their lines were beyond the off stump and their length was initially too short for this track. But Starc was curling and weaving the ball around.

It was during the 2018–19 tour of India that Starc’s second coming began. It started with social media bans. He was criticized for his heroics against Cheteshwar Pujara due to his below-par bowling performance in that series. He heard the noise outside. Many former Australian players were gunning for him, and he allowed them all to get to him. In the past, he used barbs as motivation to prove others wrong; Now he decided enough was enough, time to focus inside.

On January 2, 2020, he quit social media, stopped listening to the advice of others, sought the services of New Zealander Andre Adams, coach of New South Wales, he improved the mini-course with his actions – and most importantly, decided. To spend the rest of his career for the joy of bowling. Not that the form hasn’t stumbled since then, but not just because of trying to please others. Somewhere, deep inside, though he often seems to struggle with it, he has realized the importance of his mental space.

Here too, he took a few potshots about “noises from outside the media room”, but those were not about his game, but about criticism of Mitchell Marsh’s fitness and the batsman’s performance in Perth.

In the second innings in Perth, he took just one wicket and conceded 111 runs against India again. Jaiswal had sledged him that “you’re slow”, although this was probably in response to Starc’s comment to Harshit Rana that he was faster than the young Indian. Starc would later claim that he did not hear Jaiswal say that line, and praised him as an Indian batsman in the years to come.

Bold Boland

In India’s best phase with the bat, when KL Rahul and Shubman Gill were batting, it was Boland who kept them honest. Then Stark returned to Harasan. He had a leaping one at Rahul, who stabbed behind the stumps where Sweeney took a fine lunging catch inches from the turf. Starc then dismissed Kohli with a regulation angler. The batsman, unsure whether to play or leave, hits Steve Smith at first slip. India fell from 69 runs for 1 wicket to 81 runs for 4 wickets when Gill played the full ball from Boland.

Boland once again started another fall after lunching out Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lbw. Rohit was shaped to defend on the front foot but didn’t contend with that much inside movement, and couldn’t find any wood behind the pink leather. Pant, the most fearsome Indian innings player of the day, was taken aback by Pat Cummins’ bouncer, preserving his gutsy instincts in trying to weather the storm. Pant was standing outside the crease and a well-directed bouncer from Cummins made Pant almost close his eyes and use his bat as a face shield.

When an attacking R Ashwin tried to kickstart a mini revival with the impressive Nitish Reddy, Starc returned to snuff out any such hopes. An inswinging yorker pitch nailed Ashwin in front of middle and another yorker hit Harshit Rana’s stumps. Reddy struck a bit of a cameo, with a reverse-lapped six at third man for 21 off Boland’s over a particular highlight, but he would be the last to fall trying to make another big hit. At that time, India were hoping that their bowlers could do what Starc and Boland did, but their radar was off. Which India returns on Saturday afternoon?

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