Out of Australia’s 409 runs in the first innings, 99 were scored by their No.9 batsman. And while doing so, Mitchell Starc looked nothing less than a proper batsman, playing correct shots and decent in defence.
His batting skills apart, Starc deserved that one extra run purely for his patience and the will to bat long. However, Ishant Sharma’s probing line proved too good for him. “I got beaten four times in that over,” Starc said with a sheepish smile when asked whether he fell prey to the nervous nineties.
While he was saddened to have missed his first Test century, Starc chose to be happy with the 99 that he could score.
“I was obviously disappointed not to get my hundred but when I went out to bat this morning I was more concerned about hanging around to get Steve Smith to 100,” he said. “Unfortunately he didn’t get there and it was just about having a bit of fun after that. When I looked up, I had a few runs against my name.”
The ongoing Mohali contest is Starc’s ninth Test, and he already has a 99, 68 and a couple of 30s in the bag. After his gritty 99, a couple of former Australian cricketers went to the extent of suggesting that the 23-year-old pacer be groomed as an all-rounder.
While admitting that he works really hard on his batting, Starc resisted calling himself that just yet. “Maybe one day. I’m just enjoying at the moment. When you bat at nine, you get chances to score some runs. But I’m not at all considering myself an all-rounder just yet.
“I enjoy batting. Growing up as a kid I was a wicketkeeper, so I’ve liked to think that I can hold a stick and score a few runs if needed to. I work hard at it and all the bowlers in our squad do. We do put a bit of emphasis on making sure our tail scores some good runs.
“I changed my batting plan a little bit in India. I like to get bat on ball but it’s a bit different here where you’ve probably got to chew up a lot more balls and be a lot more patient. It’s pleasing that I could do that for a long time today but disappointing to not get that one more.
It was a bitter-sweet day in the office for left-arm pacer as after his valiant effort with the bat, he, along with other Australian bowlers, was reduced to the means for Shikhar Dhawan (185*) and Murali Vijay (83*) to pile up runs.
Starc said the margin of error against Dhawan was negligible, given his strength through the off-side.
“Shikhar batted well. He’s very off-side dominant and a batsman we can’t afford to give any width to. I think even off-stump is too wide for him. I think there were times when we weren’t as patient with him as we should’ve been.”
Terming the Mohali wicket “very flat”, Starc said it was hard work for the bowlers to trouble the batsmen in any way.
“The wicket is offering nothing (to the bowlers) so it is nice to bat on. There are 700 odd runs scored so far for 10 wickets. It’s hard work for the bowlers but I guess it’s more about being patient and getting some bowling partnerships in place, something we didn’t quite to so well today. We’ll come back tomorrow, make sure we hit them hard and put some pressure on with some early wickets.
