Pace ace reveals the wide delivery that claimed Kohli for his first-ever Test duck in India was meant to be an inswinger
The ball Starc meant to bowl to Kohli
Spearhead Mitchell Starc says luck played its part in one of the most pivotal moments in Australia’s crushing first-Test win in Pune.
Starc silenced a billion people when India captain Virat Kohli chased and edged his second ball, a wide half-volley, through to the safe hands of Peter Handscomb at first slip to stun the crowd and spark jubilant celebrations from the Australians.
While the dismissal was just one of the telling blows in Australia’s upset victory over India alongside his quick-fire 61 and Stephen O’Keefe’s record 12-wicket haul, the 27-year-old quick says the hooping inswinger he had planned for Kohli didn’t quite come off as he had hoped.
Not that it matters to Starc.
“If you look closely at the ball it was supposed to come back in, so it was a bit of luck there,” Starc said on Tuesday.
“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.”
Kohli was the second wicket of Starc’s fourth over after the towering left-armer removed first-drop Cheteshwar Pujara with a magnificent delivery that defied logic on a pitch tailor made for spin bowling.
Steaming in from over the wicket, Starc sent down a thunderbolt that reared up and claimed the glove of the evading right-hander through to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade who made no mistake.
Asked which wicket was more valuable, Pujara or Kohli, Starc said it was a hard choice but chose the latter due to the India skipper’s incredible run of form in the past six months.
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“They’re both key wickets for their order,” Starc said.
“They’ve both scored a lot of runs this summer for them and Virat as we know has scored three double-centuries in the last three series.
“That one, to get him out for a duck, probably helped us along our way at the start of the innings.
“As we saw in the back end (of each innings) it happened really quickly for Steve (O’Keefe) with the turning ball.
“We know (Kohli) is going to be another key wicket for the rest of the series.
“There’s six more times we’ve got to get him out to really cement this series.
“We know he’ll come back bigger and stronger, but he’s one I’ll take over Pujara at the moment.”
Starc and Kohli are no strangers to one another having played together for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, but won't renew acquaintances this year after the Australian opted out of the lucrative T20 tournament to rest at home and spend time with friends and family.
While they might be fierce rivals on the field, Starc said he couldn’t help but laugh at the prospect of bowling to his friend in the heat of a Test match.
Image Id: 4E1F26655844420188F14995B2457C16 Image Caption: Kohli and Starc celebrate a wicket during the 2015 IPL // BCCIAnd although he’s won the first battle in the four-Test series, Starc is fully aware that Kohli will bounce back after statistically producing his worst Test on home soil (batting twice) in his stellar career.
“I had a bit of a chuckle the ball before (Kohli’s dismissal) and while I was fielding at long on and he was in the dugout,” Starc said.
“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.
“We’re going to have to be wary of that Virat comeback.”
Test Squads
India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade
Australia's schedule in India
Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune
Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru
Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi
Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala