Mitchell Starc
PTI
Perth: Australian quick Mitchell Starc, who set the tone for fast bowlers' domination with the scalp of Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, said he wasn't surprised by the way India made a comeback into the game after being skittled for 150 on the opening day of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy series Test here on Friday.
The four Australian quicks took all the 10 Indian wickets only to see Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and debutant Harshit Rana reduce the hosts to 67/7.
"That was a completely different series, different conditions and different teams," said Starc when asked if Australia expected India to fight back in this manner after a 3-0 drubbing against New Zealand in their own backyard.
"That was entertaining to watch, the way the series unfolded... But we know how good a team India are, and that's shown today after I thought we bowled quite well and (restricted them) perhaps to an under-par score and they came out and matched us with the ball. So no, I wouldn't say I was surprised. We know the skill they've got in that team with bat and ball and they showed that with the ball today."
While Starc agreed that the pitch had something to offer for the fast bowlers, he insisted it was also down to "a fair of good bowling."
"Obviously there was enough in the wicket and probably felt it was a hardball wicket, (and) when the ball started to get a little bit softer towards the back end of the innings, it probably didn't do as much as the brand new ball. So I guess that's something for teams to take into account. In the second innings, if you can get through the testing period, it does get slightly easier. That being said the outfield is quite slow, so that probably made runs a bit hard to come by. That's probably the slowest outfield we've seen over in the west (Western Australia) for a long time."
'Bullet for country'
Debutant Nitish Reddy conceded that he was a bit nervous ahead of the Perth Test given its reputation as the fastest pitch in the world.
"I heard a lot about the Perth wicket and there was a bit of nervousness," began. "It was in the back of my mind that everyone was talking about the bounce on Perth wicket. But then I remembered the chat I had with Gautam (Gambhir) sir after our last practice session.
"He was mentioning that 'when you get a bouncer, take it on your shoulder. It was like taking a bullet for your country'. That just boosted me. When he said that I felt that I needed to take the bullet for the country. That's the best thing I have heard from Gautam sir," he added.