Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his disappointment with the Indian bowlers’ lack of success with the pink ball on the opening day of the second Test against Australia, saying they ought to have done better. Australia were comfortably placed at 86 for one at stumps after bowling out India for 180 in their first innings, thanks to pacer Mitchell Starc’s six-wicket haul. Speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “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 can set them up by bowling a couple of deliveries outside and then get the ball to move back in, as it did to Nathan McSweeney in the Perth Test, or to Labuschagne in the Perth Test, like what Bumrah did. The Indian bowlers have not really used the pink ball as well as they should have.”
Meanwhile, former Australia opener Matthew Hayden called Starc 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 Indian wickets for 48 runs.
Speaking with the broadcaster about Starc, 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.
“By that stage, he used a really important word, and it’s a bit of an underrated word as well, and that’s ‘momentum’. It was all in favour of India.
“A difficult position to come back from in life and sport is those opportunities to wrestle back momentum, and Mitchell Starc did that in only the way he can – when the lights are like the way they are and with that beautiful-coloured ball in his hand. He’s just a magician with the pink ball.” Having reduced the visitors to 82 for four at tea, Australia took the remaining six wickets at the cost of 98 runs before dinner break was taken.
Starc sizzled with his trademark inswingers to remove R Ashwin and Harshit Rana while Pat Cummins used the short ball effectively.
Providing his take on Australia’s bowling performance on day one, Hayden said, “I think Australia bowled in two halves, to be honest. I thought their first maybe 20 overs, they were very conservative. It was like they knew that the pink ball was going to start to swing.
“And when Scott Boland came around and just started getting into the line of the stumps, that was the turnaround. Around about that 35th over, we saw some of those missiles that Mitchell Starc started.
“That was 45, 50 overs in, and it started to swing. That’s what earned them the strong position they find themselves in today.” India’s assistant coach also Ryan ten Doeschate also lauded Starc for his excellent display with the pink ball.
“I think Ash’s dismissal was a very good example of why he’s so effective with the pink ball.
“When the ball swings back to a certain degree, a lesser degree, the batters can generally figure it out. But when you’re guessing on both sides, it makes him far more effective. Just the areas he bowled today were superb.
“And obviously he takes a lot of confidence from the pink ball, having done well in the past. And he’s probably the main exponent of swing bowling out of the two teams.”
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