Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has expressed disappointment with how the Indian bowlers failed to do much with the pink ball on the opening day of the second Test against Australia. Opening day conditions seem fit for the Indian bowlers to have done better than what they had achieved. At stumps, Australia were really looking comfortable, 86 for one, after having sent India to the first innings for just 180 under Mitchell Starc’s six-wicket haul. Gavaskar stated on Star Sports, “They have to make the batters play as much as they can. And this is what happens when you make the batters play as much as you can.”
“You set them up by bowling a couple outside and then getting the ball to swing back in to No. 11 Nathan McSweeney, like Bumrah did to Labuschagne in the Perth Test. The pink ball has not been effectively worked by Indian bowlers till now”.
Meanwhile, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden refers to Starc as a “magician with the pink ball” after the left-arm quick ran through the Indian batting line-up.
Starc was the wrecker-in-chief for Australia as he took six wickets of Indian for just 48 runs.
In his address to the broadcaster, Hayden said, “He has that scrambled seam delivery that goes across the right-hander, but when he does have that ability – which he did – I must admit I was a little surprised. I’ve never really seen the pink ball swing into the sort of 40th over and so aggressively swing as well.”
“At that point in time, he employed a really crucial word, and it is slightly an underrated word as well, namely ‘momentum’. The whole thing was in favor of India.
A tough place to return from in life and sports is those occasions when you get to wrestle back momentum, and Mitchell Starc did that in only the way he knows how — when the lights are like this and with that pretty-colored ball in his hand. He’s just a magician with the pink ball.” Having already reduced the visitors to 82 for four at tea, the Australians took the other six wickets for the cost of 98 runs before the dinner break was taken.
Starc hit hard with his inswinging deliveries to remove R Ashwin and Harshit Rana while Pat Cummins used the short ball very well. In giving his comments on Australia’s bowling performance on day one, Hayden said, “I think Australia bowled in two halves, to be honest.
They bowled a very conservative first maybe 20 overs to me and straightaway it was clear they knew the pink ball was going to start swinging.” “Then came Scott Boland and started getting into the line of the stumps and other things happened as the 35th over came along.
For 45 or 50 overs into that, and it started to swing. That’s what earned them the position of strength they are today.” Singh’s assistant, Ryan ten Doeschate, also joined the chorus lauding Starc for a fantastic performance with the pink ball.
I think his dismissal was a good example of what makes him that brilliant with the pink ball. When the ball is swinging back to a minor extent, the batters can usually figure it out, but when they are guessing on either side, it becomes pretty much impossible, and that’s what makes him particularly effective. Just the areas he bowled today were superb.”
“He has, from the pink ball, a huge amount of confidence especially after having performed so well with it in the past. He is perhaps, in this context, one of the most prominent exponents of swing bowling out of the two countries.”
