Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that Yashasvi Jaiswal’s casual sledge in the first Test might have stirred up Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc, who responded with career-best figures in the Test in Adelaide as well. The young Indian opener had said that Starc was bowling too slow during his marathon ton in Perth as well. Starc also responded to the cheeky remark with a wry smile and later revealed that he had not heard Jaiswal clearly as well.
“He’s actually a pretty level-headed guy, Mitchell Starc. He doesn’t get flustered too much, even you see when he’s bowling now. And if one of the batters does happen to say something, he generally responds with a little smile on his face. But I think that smile on his face might be just a bit of a cover for the fire that’s burning inside. Look, he bowled beautifully in Adelaide didn’t he,” Ricky Ponting said on the latest edition of the ICC Review.
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“Starc takes a wicket first ball, happens to beat Jaiswal that had made 160 in the last innings he played against Australia. And that really set the tone for the whole Test match. I thought Starc was outstanding. Career-best figures 6/48 in the first innings and then the captain (Cummins) comes into his own in the second innings and leads the way with the ball in the second innings. So lots of really good signs,” he further added.
However, Mitchell Starc has been a consistent performer for Australia in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. After being dropped for the 2023 Ashes opener, he bounced back in style by playing the next four on the trot and playing a massive role in the 2-2 draw as well.
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“He certainly deserves high praise. I mean, he’s probably in the last couple of years been better than he’s ever been. And the reason that I say that is I think he’s a more consistent bowler now than he’s ever been before, yet his pace is still about the same as it always was. I mean, he could bowl over 150km/h probably a few years ago and he’s in absolute prime now. He’s sort of operating in the mid-140s, but his consistency, the way he’s starting spells is really good now as well,” Ricky Ponting concluded.
