India vs Australia ODI: In the first ODI match played between India and Australia, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc troubled the Indian batsmen a lot with his lethal bowling. On the fast and bouncy pitch of Perth, Starc shook the Indian top order with his speed and line-length. He took only 1 wicket for 20 runs in his first 5 overs spell and did not give any chance to the Indian batsmen to play freely.
Mitchell Starc set Virat Kohli very cleverly. He bowled some balls to Kohli outside the off stump and then bowled a fast ball on the same line, on which Kohli could not stop himself from hitting the bat. As a result, the ball took the outer edge of the bat and reached the hands of fielder Cooper Connolly at point. Kohli returned to the pavilion without scoring any runs in just 8 balls.
However, the most talked about moment of Starc’s bowling was when he bowled a ball with a speed of 176.5 km per hour to Indian captain Rohit Sharma. This speed became a topic of discussion on social media, because such a speed is considered impossible. Cricket fans made fun of the speed gun mistake, but it definitely gave an idea of Starc’s fast bowling and impact.
The pair of Starc and Hazlewood put pressure on the Indian batsmen from the very beginning. Rohit Sharma had to struggle to score runs. He scored only 8 runs in 14 balls and was eventually caught by Matthew Renshaw at second slip off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood’s ball was short of length, on which Rohit tried to play a strong shot, but missed the timing and lost the wicket.
Starc made excellent use of the extra bounce and speed available on the Perth pitch. Most of his balls were at a speed of 140-145 kmph. He pushed the Indian batsmen on the back foot, due to which no player could play shots freely. This performance of Starc proved to be decisive for Australia. The result of their pressure was that the Indian batsmen returned to the pavilion one by one.
The condition of the Indian team worsened in the power play itself. Shubman Gill also could not last long and was caught out by wicketkeeper Josh Philip. India scored just 27 runs and lost 3 wickets in the first 9 overs, which was their worst ODI powerplay performance since 2023.
Mitchell Starc’s speed and the art of dismissing Virat-Rohit created a stir on the internet. Cricket fans gave him the title of Speedstar of Perth. Although the debate about the speed of 176.5 km/h is still going on, but it cannot be denied that Starc has once again proved with his deadly bowling that he is one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in the world.
