Mitchell Starc, delighted to have the prized scalp of Sachin Tendulkar, said India's great batsmen couldn't be written off based on their performance this tour.
“Any time you get a Test wicket is pretty special, but to get the Little Master is a great feeling,” said Starc. “But you never write off champions. What we've done really well is stick to our plans, and not deviate from them. But I'm sure they will look to make up the deficit in the other innings they have in the series.”
Asked if he thought it was out, Starc said, smiling, “I appealed, didn't I?” He added that he hadn't seen the replays of the dismissal, but without the DRS it was what it was. (Ball-tracking technology showed the ball would have hit leg-stump).
Starc, who spent time with Wasim Akram at Sydney, said he had spoken to the Pakistani great about consistently swinging the ball.
“It was just a five-minute chat. He's obviously a genius at what he did, and I just spoke to him about wrist position. I read somewhere that it was about reverse swing, but no, it was just wrist position. I hope to catch up with him again later. It can only help me.”
Starc said Australia's bowers would look to exploit the cracks on the wicket that had begun to widen under the heat. “I think both sides have found a few cracks in the last two innings, hopefully we can use them to our advantage especially and get a few more wickets early and get stuck into the tail,” he said.
Umesh Yadav might have registered the second-best figures by an Indian bowler in Perth — his five for 93 lists below Bishan Bedi's five for 89 in 1977 — but he was understandably disappointed after the second day's play.
“Of course, it's not nice when you take five wickets and your team is behind,” said Umesh. “I was just trying to bowl to my areas, and it worked for me. Yesterday [Friday], it was difficult because Warner was hitting the ball when you pitched it up.
“We couldn't bowl where we wanted to. Today [Saturday] we improved and did well.”
The 24-year-old said he was impressed with the consistency of Australia's bowlers.
“When you look at how they bowled, they kept putting it in the same areas. That's what I can learn from them,” he said.
Asked about the mood in the Indian camp, Umesh said, “It's not anything different. It's still good. We aren't thinking about it [defeat].
