'Play the new ball properly' - Cheteshwar Pujara advises India the technique to tackle Mitchell Starc
The ongoing has seen the Indian team win the first Test, Australia winning the second, and the third clash resulting in a draw. Across the first three matches, the form of star Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has stood out in the last two games.
Starc has come into his own and has managed to terrorise India’s batting attack, and he is expected to do it again in the fourth Test at the MCG as well. However, veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara recently came forward and talked about the speedster's recent performances.
advised the Indian team about how to tackle Starc’s bowling, and even commended his form in the recent matches.
“He has taken most of his wickets in his first five overs, his first spell. We need to bat well in the first five overs and make him bowl the second and third spells because he gets tired,” Pujara told Star Sports.
“When Mitchell Starc was bowling to Bumrah and Akash Deep with the old ball, he wasn’t that effective. So, play the new ball properly. He has been their best bowler thus far in this series. He has improved his bowling a lot in the last one to one-and-a-half years. If I talk about my personal experience, when he used to bowl in the last two series, we felt we could get runs. However, now it seems like when he comes to bowl, he will pick up wickets,” the Saurashtra batter elaborated.
Furthermore, the legendary batter heaped praise on Starc, opining that his bowling has improved a lot in recent times. He pointed out that he has been bowling very few loose deliveries and is in top form.
“His accuracy has improved a lot. He is bowling very few loose deliveries. He is bowling at the stumps, hitting the good length spot consistently, and getting swing. He has become a different bowler. He is looking more dangerous than Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. So we will have to manage his bowling, especially with the new ball," the 36-year-old added.