Starc is working in Indians’ heads, says Mitch Marsh

Starc did his job well in the first Test on a dustbowl where he removed in-form batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and rival captain Virat Kohli cheaply. “It’s great if he (Starc) is in the Indians’ heads, hopefully he can take a few wickets for us,” Marsh told reporters here ahead of second Test against India. He termed Starc as a lethal weapon in Indian conditions with his ability to get reverse swing. 

“He’s one of the best bowlers in the world, if not the best bowler in the world. In these conditions, whilst all the talk has been about the spinners he’s still our biggest weapon, I think,” he said. According to Marsh, both Hazlewood and Starc’s abilities with the old ball gives the Australian team confidence of troubling Indian batsmen. 

“In Pune, the wicket itself did a lot of work for us, it’s not necessarily the square here. These balls scuff up well early on. Reverse swing will be huge for us. If we can get it going, we have got two of the best reverse swing bowlers in the world. They will still be huge weapons for us.”

The younger of the Marsh brothers, Mitchell played 76 balls on a rank turner and it’s about playing with soft hands, he indicated. “It was about learning to play with soft hands, so that it takes the fielders around the bat out of the game as much as possible,” he said. 

“It’s a big part of playing well over here, and it’s something all our batsmen have worked on,” the 25-year-old said.“In these conditions you’ve got to earn the right to attack and that’s by having a solid defence. That’s what I’ve been working on.” Even as the ICC has rated Pune wicket as “poor” following an adverse report by match referee Chris Broad, Marsh didn’t want to comment on  the pitch.