Mitchell Starc surprised after Australian teammates prematurely celebrate

The ongoing Test at new Perth Stadium between Australia and India has been a closely-fought one thus far. After the hosts scored 326 runs, India got off to the worst possible start. They lost openers- Murali Vijay and KL Rahul inside the first six overs. Even as Josh Hazlewood rattled Rahul’s woodwork, left-armer Mitchell Starc got the better of Vijay with an in-coming delivery.

Quite expectantly, the Aussies got their opponents by the scruff of their necks and India, well and truly, found themselves on a rabbit hole. Starc, who had been severely criticised by former Aussie greats for his lacklustre performance in the opening Test at Adelaide Oval, was looking at his brutal best. He ran in at sheer pace and hurled thunderbolts at the Indian batsmen.

Starc a tad bemused

In the penultimate ball of the ninth over, there was a massive appeal against Cheteshwar Pujara, who came to bat after the fall of Vijay’s wicket. At that point in time, India were reeling at 23/2 with captain Virat Kohli and Pujara in the middle. The pitch was spewing venom and Starc launched in a short delivery that got big on the batsman. The ball was directed towards the leg-side.

Pujara tried to fend the ball through the fine leg region but was beaten by the sheer pace. Luckily, instead of the willow, the leather brushed his shirt and flew to wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who didn’t make any mistake in grasping the ball. Following the catch, Paine started celebrating in jubilation. However, on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena remained unfazed.

Nevertheless, Starc wasn’t interested in appealing one bit. Paine kept appealing vociferously, but Dharmasena didn’t react. Starc made a gesture with his hand that suggested his dissatisfaction. The Aussies thought about taking the Decision Review System (DRS), but they decided against it. Meanwhile, the delivery was good enough to get Australia their third wicket.

Here is the video

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