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Follow UsBack in the day, there was this famous quote that did the rounds describing Dutch Footballer Arjen Robben. “Everybody knows what he’s going to do, but nobody can stop him.”
What the quote basically meant was this: every single defender knew Robben was gonna cut on the inside and use his left foot to curl one into the top corner, but despite knowing what was going to happen, no individual was able to stop him because he was that good.
It’s pretty much the case with Mitchell Starc in pink-ball Tests, you know?
Every right-hander knows what’s coming their way: inswingers when there is movement off the air available, and cross-seamed deliveries angled across when the conditions have flattened out. Yet nobody seems to be able to stop him, because he is that good.
Before the first ball was bowled today, India knew that Starc was going to be the biggest threat given his outrageous record in pink-ball Tests. In 12 day-night Tests, Starc had taken 66 wickets at a ludicrous average of 18.71 and had established himself as *the best* pink-ball bowler ever.
Yet despite having all data, pitchmaps and tactics at their disposal, the Men in Blue were blown away on day one at the Adelaide Oval by the left-armer, who further added to his pink-ball legend.
On the day, Starc produced - at least statistically - his best ever performance in a day-night Test, running through India with figures of 6/48. And by doing so, he reiterated a fact that’s pretty much undisputed now: that he is simply the best ever bowler to have held a pink ball.
When young Yashasvi Jaiswal hit Starc with the ‘you’re too slow’ remark in Perth, the left-armer, once a fiery character on the field, did not retaliate. He instead gave a smile and walked back to his mark.
What Jaiswal probably wasn’t expecting was Starc yorking him on the very first ball of the second Test. In Rory Burns-esque fashion, the 34-year-old pinged the left-hander on the shin with a full one that swung late and bam, Australia had a head start just like that, despite losing the toss.
However, even after conceding the headstart, it was India who had the upper hand after 90 minutes, well-placed at 69/1 with two set batters (KL Rahul 37* and Shubman Gill 30*) threatening to take control of the Test, having made best use of some good fortune.
Enter Starc for his second spell.
In general, you don’t look at Starc as someone capable of running through teams with an old-ish ball - since he largely relies on swing up-front - however, here he changed the entire complexion of the contest in his second spell.
Starc first got the huge wicket of Rahul, by getting the right-hander to play at one he should have left. With the ball angled across him, the right-hander failed to get on the top of the bounce and paid the price, with Nathan McSweeney taking a very good low catch at gully.
The dismissal itself was massive, for it broke a 69-run stand, but the timing was more crucial: it came 35 minutes before dinner and gave the Aussies a chance to get back into the contest by rattling the visitors towards the end of the session.
With Virat Kohli exposed just minutes before lunch, then, Starc grabbed the opportunity - he created for himself - by removing India’s talisman in identical fashion to Rahul.
In the blink of an eye, then, 69/1 became 77/3, and Scott Boland struck one over later to spectacularly turn the first session in favor of the hosts.
At 141/6, Australia were still in control of the game. But Ravichandran Ashwin and Nitish Reddy had already added 32 runs together and India were slowly starting to throw a few punches back.
Enter Starc for his fourth spell.
It took the left-armer only two balls to break the nagging stand, with him bamboozling Ashwin with an inswinging snorter that yorked him.
In walked Harshit Rana, who did better than Ashwin, lasting three balls in the over. But he nevertheless suffered the same fate, cleaned up by a brute of a fuller ball that swung late into him.
Rana’s wicket made it five for Starc, his fourth with the pink ball. No other bowler in history has more than two.
The sixth wicket, that of a rampant Nitish, proved to be the icing on the cake, for it not only brought up Starc his best figures with a pink ball, but also his best ever figures in Tests.
In many ways, Starc set up the Perth Test nicely for Australia on the first day too, but was let down by an abject showing by the batters. Much to his and Australia’s relief, the batters made use of the platform Starc set for the side, ending the first day on 86/1.
If the batters can somehow double down on this start and get upwards of 300, you’d imagine Starc would fancy himself having another field day out with the pink ball, thereby helping Australia make it 1-1.
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