India vs Australia: Irfan Pathan explains the reason behind the lack of swing for Mitchell Starc

The much-awaited three-match One-Day International series between India and Australia finally kicked off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Australian skipper won the toss and with dew set to play a major role in the second half of the game, he had no hesitation in sending the Indians to bat first. Coming into the game, India had to make a choice between one of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, as the opening partner for Rohit Sharma.

Virat Kohli had given an indication that the team management might slot-in both Rahul and Dhawan in the playing 11, with him slotting down at the No.4 spot. And as expected, all three played with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma strolling out to open the innings and face the challenge of countering the opening burst from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

Rohit Sharma started the innings with a cracking boundary off Mitchell Starc and backed it up with another sumptuous cover-drive. One of the things that were evident in the first few overs was the difference in the swing that both the Aussie new-ball opening pair were generating. While Pat Cummins got the ball to dart around in the initial overs, Starc was seen bowling cross-seam.

Irfan Pathan points out the change in Starc’s action

Starc has recently undergone a change in his bowling action and the former Indian left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan feels that the change in ‘LOADING’ in his bowling action may be the reason behind him getting less swing as compared to someone like Pat Cummins, who has a repetitive action.

“There is a change in the LOADING in his bowling action for some reason and I think that’s the reason #starc isn’t getting the swing, on the contrary, the other end #cummins able to move the ball with repetitive action… #INDvsAUS,” Pathan tweeted soon after the match started.

That said, it was Mitchell Starc who got the Aussies the prized scalp of Rohit Sharma after he induced him into a mistimed drive that went straight in the hands of short mid-off fielder. Shikhar Dhawan was particularly troubled by Starc’s angle as well as by his yorkers, but the southpaw was able to dig out the difficult phase and has since then managed to get himself into some sort of rhythm as India re-build their innings, post-Rohit’s dismissal.

Here’s what Irfan Pathan tweeted