Dubai, December 12 (IANS). Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that a witty comment by Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy inspired Mitchell Starc to give his best performance in the second Test.
In the first Test, in Perth, Jaiswal scored a brilliant 161 in the second innings. During his innings he joked to Mitchell Starc that “You are bowling very slow.” Starc smiled slightly at this comment, but in the second Test in Adelaide, he wrote the story of his victory by dismissing Jaiswal for a duck on the very first ball.
Ponting, while discussing the incident in the ICC Review episode, said that Jaiswal’s comment inspired Starc to perform even better. He said, “Mitchell Starc is of a very calm nature. He does not panic much, and even if a batsman says something, he often responds with a smile. But I think his smile hides the fire within him.” He bowled brilliantly in Adelaide.”
34-year-old Mitchell Starc is one of the best fast bowlers in modern cricket. He has 692 wickets to his name in all formats. He has won almost every major title for Australia, including two ICC ODI World Cups (2015 and 2023), the T20 World Cup (2021), and the ICC World Test Championship (2023).
Ponting praised Starc and said that how he has adapted to every format of the game is praiseworthy. He said, “In the last few years, he has probably been in the best form of his career. His bowling is more consistent now and his pace is also the same as before. He could bowl at a speed of more than 150 km/h earlier, and Even now he is doing consistently well at 140-145 km/h.”
Ponting further said, “I was extremely impressed with his first spells in Perth and Adelaide. His bowling with the pink ball, especially in Adelaide, was amazing. One of the reasons for his success with the pink ball is that the pink ball behaves like the white ball. And we know how good Starc’s record is with the white ball. That could be the reason.”
–IANS
AS/
