Sticking to his mantra of attacking the stumps with the new ball, Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc said on Friday that the approach helped him strike early into the first day of the pink-ball Test against India.
Starc was the stand-out performer on a lively Adelaide pitch as he returned excellent figures of 6/48 in dismissing India for a mere 180 runs.
The 34-year-old dealt an early blow by dismissing young India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal leg-before on the first ball of the match, gaining a psychological edge over the visitors' batters right at the beginning.
"At the stumps, hit the pads. That's it. Nothing special," Starc said when asked at the end of the day's play about his plan of action against Perth centurion Jaiswal.
"That's been my role for a while: to attack the stumps and try and make early inroads. Pleased to sneak one past today. We know how important it is to make early inroads into this batting lineup," he said.
"It's always a nice way to start. It is a big Test match, it's a big series." Jaiswal had scored a century in the opening Test and was also caught on stump mic telling Starc that he was 'too slow' in a playful exchange in Perth. The left-arm pacer said it was satisfying to dismiss Jaiswal for a first-ball duck but cautioned that Australia would need to remain on their guard in the second innings.
At Perth, Jaiswal had gone for a duck in the first innings but then struck a brilliant 161 in the second to lead India to a 295-run victory.
"He (Jaiswal) had a good Test match last week. So, yeah, nice to get him early. And then we'll have to work on him in the second innings, I guess so," said Starc.
Australia reached 86 for 1 in the final session, leaving the visitors in a spot of bother.
For Starc, things just could not have gone any better for the hosts on the opening day as they are well placed.
"Yeah, a very good first day for us with the ball, I think. After that first hour, I think we were pretty bang on. So, yeah, nice way to start the Test, but a nice day one for us. It's a good way to finish the day, or good day all up," said Starc.
The third session under lights was probably Starc's batters' toughest, but Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne had done well to see off the tough conditions, according to him.
The Australian opener McSweeney (38 not out) and Labuschagne (20 not out) were at the crease when stumps were called despite unsettling spells from Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana.
"Arguably the toughest time to bat is that third session with the brand new pink ball. To be one down, particularly from Marnus and McSweeney there to fight through that and obviously sustain pressure from a quality bowling attack… and to come out the other end with a chance to go on tomorrow.
"It was fantastic from them. So, yeah, very pleased from there," added Starc.
'Test cricket has changed a bit' ================== Starc felt Test cricket had changed somewhat from the time he came into the Australian side with a lot of young, talented and fearless cricketers emerging from the Indian Premier League and made an impact in Test cricket.
"Yeah, the game's changed. The game's allowed to change. I guess that's partly the T20 era, isn't it? "Some of these guys come up, grow up through IPL cricket and there's no fear or there's the expectation to be very good from the get-go and they're quality players from the time they get into international cricket no matter what their age is," he said.
Citing the example of Jaiswal, who at 22 has four Test centuries, Starc said: “We’ve obviously seen a little bit of Jaiswal before last week and then obviously had a fantastic one in the second innings (at Perth), and in some of the shots that Kumar (Nitish Reddy) played today where it was some special shots.
"Whether that's T20 cricket or coming into Test cricket or no-fear cricket from the next generation, I've been around long enough to see it change a little bit. And yeah, whether it's less fear or just a bit more confidence when you start into international cricket. You'll have to ask those batters but I'm sure it's exciting to watch."
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