"It was just a regulation wicket": Australia's Mitchell Starc

Starc defends third umpire’s contentious caught-behind call to dismiss KL Rahul; says sound and timing were convincing

Australia’s senior pacer Mitchell Starc on Friday played down the chatter around India batter KL Rahul’s contentious caught behind dismissal on the first day of the opening Test here, saying it was a “regulation wicket”.

Rahul’s dismissal kicked up a controversy with former players from both countries questioning the third umpire’s decision to overturn the on-field official’s not out call.

After on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough ruled in Rahul’s favour following Australia’s appeal, the home team used DRS to challenge the decision.

Third umpire Richard Illingworth, however, overturned the call despite not having the benefit of a split-screen view which would have given him a clearer picture of whether the Starc delivery actually grazed the bat or the snicko responded to a hit on the pads.

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“It got overturned obviously, but I thought it was regulation, the sound it made, the timing of it, I thought it was just a regulation wicket,” Starc said at the press conference after the day’s play.

Early breakthrough

Starc (2-14), who bagged the opening wicket of the series when he removed Yashasvi Jaiswal, will resume on six not out alongside wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who is unbeaten on 19, on Saturday, with Australia at 67-7 after India made 150 in their first innings.

A staggering 17 wickets fell on the opening day, a record on Australian soil, but the leading pacer believed batting is going to get easier in the second innings and they just need to survive the new Kookaburra ball. “I think there was a fair bit of good bowling today. Obviously, there was enough in the wicket and it probably felt like it was a hardball wicket,” Starc said. “When the ball started to get a little bit softer towards the back end of that Indian innings, it probably didn’t do as much. [There was] still enough there, but it didn’t do as much as the brand new hardball.

“So I guess that’s something for teams to take in the second innings.

Slow outfield

“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 for a long time.”

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