"Not their bowling coach": Mitchell Starc gets snarky when asked about India

Starc’s efforts went fruitless as India won the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Perth by 295 runs. However, it is not in the seasoned Aussie’s nature to sit back for long. Though a little later than expected, the visitors finally faced the dreaded seamer as the second Test kicked off in Adelaide. Call it a nudge or a trigger, Jaiswal’s dig at Starc in Perth didn’t go entirely unheard. Thus, when Mitchell Starc opened the Australian attack, he was quick to remind the young Indian batter of his prowess. Starc trapped the stalwart LBW on the first ball of the Adelaide Test. While he had to wait for his second wicket, Starc ensued a collapse in the Indian batting order as soon as he dismissed KL Rahul. Making the pink ball dance to his tunes, Starc registered his career-best figures of 6/48 as India wrapped up the innings at a score of 180.

Mitchell Starc sharply avoids commenting on Indian bowling following Day 1 of Adelaide Test

While Mitchell Starc produced a performance for the record books, Indian bowling didn’t look as sharp with the pink ball. Unlike his brilliance in Perth, Jasprit Bumrah provided room for the Australian batters to settle at the crease. His first wicket, and India’s only wicket of the day, came when he dismissed Usman Khawaja in the 11th over of the innings. However, from that point onwards, none of the Indian bowlers could trouble Marnus Labuschagne or the new Australian opener Nathan McSweeney. The bowlers, including Mohammed Siraj and Harshit Rana, appeared a bit clueless in their plans for the pink-ball conditions.

When Mitchell Starc addressed the press following his commendable spell on Day 1 of the Adelaide Test, one of the queries required him to talk about the Indian bowling. However, the Australian, focused on his team’s plans to make inroads in the five-match Border Gavaskar Trophy, came up with a sharp one-liner to answer the question.

“I am not their bowling coach,” Starc insisted when asked if Indian bowlers faltered with their line and length with the pink ball.

The tussle between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mitchell Starc has emerged as the highlight of the series down under. It started when the 22-year-old Indian, on his way to a maiden Test ton in Australia, took a dig at the senior Australian player. While Jaiswal had the say in Perth, Starc bamboozled him as soon as the day-night fixture commenced in Adelaide. Notably, Jaiswal’s century in the first BGT Test came after he had departed for a duck in the opening innings. Thus, while Mitchell Starc felt "nice" after dismissing Jaiswal quickly in Adelaide, he remains wary of his capabilities and ability to redeem himself in the second innings.

"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," said Starc.