BGT, Aus vs Ind 2nd Test – Mitchell Starc uses his favorite combination to boost Australia

On By Littum

It was roaring. Mitchell Starc has celebrated plenty of wickets across his decorated career, but it felt like this one had a bit more significance than many others. The first delivery thumped into Yashasvi Jaiswal’s pad as the left-hander played across it and for the third time in his career Starc had a wicket with the first ball in a Test match.
The last time a wicket fell to the opening delivery of a men’s Test was when Starc took out Rory Burns’ leg stump with the opening ball of the 2021-22 Ashes at the Gabba. It also brought a wild celebration, but with the context of this match, Jaiswal’s wicket was quite the moment. The noise from a not-yet-full Adelaide Oval when he departed was something to behold.
Much has been said and written both during and after the first Test about Australia’s performance; plenty of it has been fair and balanced – it was a defeat of rare proportions at home – but there were extreme views and the usual collection of hot takes among it. Alex Carey spoke of some surprise at the reaction, Nathan Lyon said he found parts of it humorous. But the bottom line was that Australia needed a quick response.
They therefore could not have asked for a better start than to remove the batsman who had made 161 in the second innings in Perth. Jaiswal had shown his willingness to enter a duel by suggesting to Starc that he was not bowling fast enough, although in the subsequent press conference he spoke of his respect for Starc and the excitement of facing him. However, he had started Perth with a duck courtesy of Starc before asserting himself. It is shaping up to be one of the games of the series.

For a while after the early breakthrough, it looked like Australia was losing ground. Scott Boland denied himself a first-ball wicket in his first home Tests for two years when he overstepped after removing KL Rahul – in a bizarre twist Snicko suggested there was no nick despite the batter starting to walk before the no-ball call. Later in the same over, Usman Khawaja wasted a catch at first slip to give Rahul a new lease of life.

India reached 69 for 1 in the last half-hour of the session when Starc returned, with Rahul catching at the gap and then pulling Virat Kohli into a rising delivery at second slip, similar to his dismissal in the first innings in Perth. Both Kohli and Starc love the Adelaide Oval, but it was the latter who took the honors this time. When Boland caught Shubman Gill lbw with a full delivery, India were 81 for 4 at the lunch break.

On the one hand, it was no surprise that Starc was Australia’s main man, but on the other, it went completely against the grain. He has one phenomenal record in pink-ball tests – by the end of the innings it was 72 wickets at 17.81, including 4 for 53 in the corresponding Test in 2020-21 – but overall against India in Tests it has been more of a struggle: before today he had 51 wickets at 38.72 and never more than five in a game. They are comfortably the opponents he has been least productive against.

So, in a way, it was using one of his favorite combinations – Adelaide and the pink ball – to overcome a more stubborn obstacle. He has been in excellent rhythm this season, although he took some punishment during India’s big second innings in the first Test. “I said last week in Perth that I thought he looked as good as he’s looked in a long time,” Ricky Ponting said. Channel 7.

Midway through the second session, Starc returned and for the third time on the day, and in his opening spell, caught R Ashwin lbw with a full delivery which swung back (and also caused some damage to Ashwin’s foot). The drive was again on display as he ripped one through Harshit Rana as he continued to produce considerable form with a 39 over old ball.

“Ash’s dismissal was a very good example of why he is so effective with the pink ball,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said. “He’s somebody who presents the seam nicely. He obviously uses the second ball really well to set up batters. When the ball swings back to a certain degree — less degree — batters can generally figure it out. But when you guess both sides it makes him far more effective.”

When Starc closed India’s innings by ending Nitesh Kumar Reddy’s raucous counter-attack, it gave him new career-best figures of 6 for 48. It bettered the 6 for 50 he took against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2016, which in a neat twist was the first time he had taken a wicket with the first ball in a Test. With his Jaiswal wicket, Starc became the second bowler to achieve the feat three times after Pedro Collins, who has the wonderfully odd distinction of removing the same batter – Bangladesh’s Hannan Sarkar – on each occasion.

It was also notable that Starc’s best analysis came in his 91st Test. Only two frontline bowlers have achieved a new high water mark later in their careers in terms of matches played: James Anderson in his 128th outing and Glenn McGrath in his 103rd.

But while 180 all out looked like a job well done, we had been here a few weeks ago in Perth when India were bowled out for 150 and left Australia with the last session to bat. Things did not go well for the hosts and here they not only had to contend with Jasprit Bumrah but also the night session.

The result was as good as could be hoped for. Usman Khawaja got Bumrah to slip – meaning his form remains an overview – but the inexperienced Nathan McSweeney, on his adopted home ground, and the subdued Marnus Labuschagne came through to the stumps.

McSweeney, who was dropped on 3 by Rishabh Pant, had been run by Rana in the early stages of his innings, which seemed to lure him into a move that was not far from being pulled on, but he kept his composure impressively. , even reaching the spotlight twice when they are out in quick succession. As the final half-hour approached, McSweeney smashed away boundaries to Reddy and in the closing moments the chirping Rana pulled for another one.

A day that started with a roar for Starc ended with cheers for a local star who did the hard yards to ensure Starc’s work did not go to waste. Australia needed a good day; they had an excellent one.