It was a regulation catch: Starc on KL Rahul's controversial dismissal

KL Rahul was caught behind, but the decision did not convince him or the Indian team. Rahul clearly showed dissent by shaking his head. But it was not the on-field umpire that gave him out. 

Mitchell Starc was the bowler and he asked skipper Pat Cummins to review. It was after that review that the third-umpire changed the on-field decision and called it out. 

Asked about whether there was conclusive evidence or not to overturn the decision, Starc at the end of the Day 1 press conference in Perth said, “Obviously, it got overturned, so yeah [there was conclusive evidence]. I thought it was regulation. The sound it made, the timing of it and obviously, the footage showed it and so it was overturned.”

Starc, who took two wickets and remained unbeaten on six off 14 balls at the end of Day 1 as Australia struggled at 67/7, trailing India’s 150 by 83 runs, said that the pitch is favouring the bowlers.  The first four matches at the Optus Stadium in Perth, which is hosting the Test instead of the traditional Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground.

“It might have been a bit of sideways movement. I don't know if there were any differences in all the wickets (previous Tests). It was probably a hard ball wicket and as you saw at the fag end of the Indian innings, the ball didn’t do much and therefore there is definitely hope for both the teams in their second innings,” Starc said about the pitch. 

“All that being said, the outfield is very slow, probably the slowest in the west for quite a long time. That probably made the runs hard to come by,” added the 34-year-old. 

Apart from the Rahul controversy, there was another issue that would have caught the attention of the match referee. Mitchell Marsh was acute on the bowling of Mohammed Siraj. 

However, while delivering the ball, Siraj’s one shoe came off. After the dismissal, there was a long chat with the umpire and the two Australian batters at the crease at that time- Marsh himself and Marnus Labuschagne at the other end. 

Asked whether the shoe was the big issue discussed. Starc said, “Nah, I don’t think the shoe was an issue. Mitch was more concerned about whether the catch was clean. He did mention the shoe, but Marnus made more of that [noise] around the shoe than Mitch did.”

Harshit Rana, Starc’s teammate from the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL also made his Test debut and picked his maiden Test wicket in the form of Travis Head. 

“I have played IPL with him, so I kind of know what he has got. I have only seen him with the white ball. But obviously, he bowls some good stuff,” Starc said about the Indian debutant. 

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