Mitchell Starc is a magician with the pink ball: Matthew Hayden

On the first day of the pink-ball Test match between Australia and India, which was contested at the Adelaide Oval on Friday, December 6, fiery bowler Mitchell Starc produced an incredible session. Known as a “magician with the pink ball,” the renowned Matthew Hayden was a huge admirer of the left-arm seamer.

In the second Test, Australia would have hoped for a good start after their crushing defeat in Perth. Starc delivered just that, defeating the highly effective Yashasvi Jaiswal with the opening ball of the game after Rohit Sharma chose to bat first after winning the toss. Following this, Starc claimed the wickets of Ravichandran Ashwin, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Harshit Rana, culminating in an impressive 6/48 in 14.1 overs.

When he did have that potential, which he had, I must say I was a little taken aback. He has that jumbled seam delivery that crosses the right-hander. The pink ball swinging into the 40th over with such force is something I’ve never truly seen before. The word “momentum,” which he used at that point, is very significant and perhaps underappreciated. Hayden stated on Star Sports that everything was in India’s favour.

Regaining momentum is a challenging situation in both life and sports, and Mitchell Starc accomplished this in the only manner he knows how:

with that gorgeously coloured ball in his hand and when the lights are just right. With the Pink Ball, he is merely a magician,” he continued.

According to Hayden, the Australian bowlers were cautious in the opening 20 overs until Scott Boland and Starc joined the fray and assisted the hosts in dismissing India for 180. He also singled out Boland for staying to the stump-to-stumps line, which ultimately cost the hosts crucial wickets.

In my opinion, Australia bowled in two halves. I think they were pretty careful in the first twenty or so overs. They seemed to know that the pink ball was about to swing. And that was the turning point when Scott Boland changed his mind and simply began to move into the line of the stumps’, the former Australian icon went on.

“Some of the missiles that Mitchell Starc started were visible to us around the 35th over. After forty-five and fifty overs, it began to swing. Hayden came to the conclusion that this is what gave them the solid position they currently have.

They must force the batters to play as much as they are capable of: Sunil Gavaskar

The Indian bowlers must force the Australian hitters to play at more deliveries, according to the great Sunil Gavaskar. Despite Australia finishing Day 1 in a commanding 86/1, he voiced his dissatisfaction with the way Jasprit Bumrah and company utilised the pink ball.

The hitters must be forced to play as much as they can. And this is the result of forcing the batters to play as much as possible. By bowling a few deliveries outside and then getting the ball to go back in, as it did to Nathan McSweeney in the Perth Test, or to Labuschagne, as Bumrah did, you may set them up. According to Gavaskar, the Indian bowlers haven’t really made the most of the pink ball.