Sunil Gavaskar on Friday said Indian bowlers cannot use the pink ball more than Australian bowlers.
“They have to make the batters play as much as they can. And that’s what happens when you make the batsmen play as hard as they can,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“You can set them up by bowling a couple of deliveries outside off and then get the ball back, like Nathan McSweeney did in the Perth Test, or Bumrah did to Labuschagne in the Perth Test. The Indian bowlers didn’t really use the pink ball,” he added.
Australia are currently 86/1 between Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney after Mitchell Starc’s six-wicket haul bowled India out for 180 runs. Jasprit Bumrah took the only wicket of Usman Khawaja for 13 runs.
Meanwhile, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden called Starc a “pink ball wizard” as the left-arm pacer ran through the Indian batting line-up.
“He’s got that scramble seam delivery that goes right-hander, but when he has that ability – which he did – I have to admit I was a bit surprised. I’ve never actually seen him swing the pink ball in the 40th over and swing it so aggressively, Hayden said.
“At that stage, he used a really important word, and it’s an underrated word too, and that was ‘momentum’. It was all on India’s side. Difficult situations to come back from life and sports are opportunities to bring momentum back into wrestling, and Mitchell Starc did just that. As he can – when the lights are on and with that beautiful colored ball in his hand.
(including agency inputs)