“It Was Just A Regulation Wicket”- Mitchell Starc Plays Down KL Rahul’s Controversial Dismissal

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc also dismissed the controversy regarding the wicket of India opener KL Rahul on the first day of the Perth Test. This was the case when Rahul was batting on 26 when the on-field umpire, Richard Kettleborough, had ruled him not out. But Australians had taken a caught behind Starc’s delivery and Pat Cummins used the DRS to challenge the umpire.

The third umpire overturned a decision, which was that Rahul was out, despite a doubtful picture. There was a spike on the Snicko as the ball passed the bat but there was confusion between an edge and the bat coming onto the pad.

Rahul signified that he had struck the pad and the decision has raised eyebrows. Starc, however, has dismissed such views, saying the team’s performance on the field should be the main conversation.

Mitchell Starc gives his verdict

Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc believed that the contentious decision that resulted in KL Rahul’s dismissal was a “regulation wicket” after the day’s play was completed. In the first innings of the Border-Gavaskar series opener in Perth, the pacer told the media during a press conference that he saw nothing wrong with the wicket that ended the opening batsman’s time in the middle.

“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 a press conference.

“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 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,” he added.

Starc and Alex Carey, the wicketkeeper-batter, will return to the field after losing seven wickets. The other hitters will be hoping to at least take a lead in the first innings at the end of their batting innings.