Australia’s pacers enjoyed a rare deficit in workload, but Mitchell Starc expects that to change in the second Test © Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Australia’s premier fast bowlers are used to carrying a heavy load. In the period before their bounce back during the home summer, when Australia’s batting line up collapsed in a Pune-India fashion with alarming regularity, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, in particular, have toiled long and hard in the middle. At times they’ve resembled the sucker at the bar who keeps shouting rounds and then finds everyone has lost their wallets when it’s his turn for a drink.
Even during the series against Pakistan, their workloads were significant: they each bowled 56 overs in the first Test in Brisbane. The only Test of the Australian summer in which they bowled less than 42 overs each was in Australia’s massive defeat by South Africa in Hobart.
So for Starc and Hazlewood to only bowl two overs each in the second innings in Pune, and 11 and nine for the match, was the cricket equivalent of putting your feet up on the table and leaning back while all your mates fetch you cold beers. Time to collect.
“It’s amazing,” said Starc. “I think it’s making up for the summer Josh and I had. The spinners bowled really well and the pitch didn’t have much in it for Josh and me. There was very minimal natural swing because it was so abrasive and it didn’t really go too much reverse. But when Steve’s [O’Keefe] taking that many wickets and Nathan’s [Lyon] bowling really well there’s not really much need for us on that wicket.”
But Starc expects he’ll be required for heavier duties in Bangalore, particularly after Australia’s spinners were able to exploit the ragging Pune pitch which backfired on India so spectacularly.
“I can’t see it being too bouncy or quick because it’s a weakness of the Indian batters,” said Starc. “We’ll probably see it not turning as much as this wicket has or breaking up as quickly. I think we’ll probably see a wicket similar to maybe the England series they had over here where it’s probably flatter and there’s some really big first innings totals and the game happens a bit quicker towards the end. It’s a smaller ground but a bit better of a wicket than what we’ve seen here in Pune.”
But even on a Pune pitch offering him little, Starc produced a ripper of a delivery to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara, the ball rearing up off the back of a length area and catching the glove as Pujara tried to defend. If there’s any bounce to be found in M Channasammy Stadium, Starc will seek it out.
“It’s probably something not many batsmen like, especially the guys over in the sub-continent, where they’re not used to those faster or bouncier wickets. So we can get up around their nose every now and again,” Starc said. “A lot of teams have showed that it’s not an area that the India batsmen like most. Hopefully there’s a little bit of bounce in the Bangalore wicket or the wickets to come in this series and we can try and exploit that as well.”
While Pujara’s first innings dismissal was a key moment in the match, the wicket of Virat Kohli is the most highly coveted by his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate. However, Starc admits there was an element of luck in his dismissal.
“If you look closely at the ball it was supposed to come back in, so it was a bit of luck there. It was his first couple of balls at the crease so he was probably going a little too hard. Not one I’ll be giving back anytime soon, that’s for sure.
“I had a bit of a chuckle the ball before and while I was fielding at long-on and and he was in the dugout. Nice to get that one early in the series. He’s a class player, we all know that. He’s scored a mountain of runs already this year. I’m sure he’ll come back bigger and stronger in the next Test and be wary of the Virat comeback.”
With Australia’s spinners dominating the first Test on such an abrasive wicket, there was little opportunity for reverse swing to come into the equation for Australia’s quicks but Starc believes it could be a key factor in the second Test and an area in which Australia can improve.
“Obviously we’ll wait until we get there to see what the conditions are like but I’m sure it will be a pretty dry wicket again, so that’ll probably help reverse swing there and it’s something we’ll be working hard at all the time in the nets,” said Starc.
“We know we’ve got huge reverse swing every time we’ve got it here in India, so we’ll have a look at what the wicket has got for us. It’s about looking after that shine on an abrasive square. And if it’s not going to spin as much in Bangalore, we’re going to have to make sure we’re using that reverse swing to make up for not as much spin as we’ve seen here in Pune.”
For Starc, the lead in to Bangalore couldn’t be much better. It’s been a long time since he’s been able to go into a second Test this physically fresh and off the back of such a confidence boosting victory that has silenced the doubters.
“Obviously we’ve come here as a group believing we can win, and I think everyone has written us off and expected India to win,” said Starc. “So to shut a few people up and really show that this young team is here to play – and we’ve adapted really well in our lead-up – has been great for the group. But it’s one Test win, it’s not a series win yet so we’ll be doing all we can. Especially in the next Test in Bangalore. It’s going to be pretty special for this young group [if we pull it off].”
Melinda Farrell is a presenter with ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo