"I Bowl Faster...": Starc Warns Rana, Then India Pacer Hits Him On...

Things are getting heated up in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. After a 17-wicket Day 1, the action on Day 2 started with Jasprit Bumrah dismissing Alex Carey. Then Harshit Rana too joined the party with the wicket of Nathan Lyon. The debutant pacer bowled full tilt generating bounce from the Perth track. In fact, he went on to give the Australia a taste of his bounce barrage. So much so, that Starc issued Rana a cheeky warning: "I bowl faster than you. I have a long memory". He indicated that Rana might face the same bouncer music. 

Undeterred, a few overs later, Harshit Rana's yet another bouncer hit Mitchell Starc on the helmet. Rana immediately asked if Starc is okay. 

Mitch Starc offers a little warning to Harshit Rana #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/KoFFsdNbV2 — cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 23, 2024

On day 1, skipper Jasprit Bumrah made amends for his debatable toss call to bat first with a mesmerising opening spell that left Australia scurrying for cover at 67 for 7 and helped India make an emphatic comeback after a flop show with the willow on the opening day of the first Test here.

The match, which was billed as a battle between two out of form batting units, lived up to the prediction at least on the first day. As many as 17 wickets fell, which is the first time in seven decades for a Test match on Australian soil.

The stand-in India skipper, much to everyone's surprise, opted to bat on a track with a liberal grass cover which generated appreciable seam movement and midriff high bounce.

But neither the youngsters nor the seasoned ones in the Indian line-up were up to the task.

It was debutant Nitish Reddy's gutsy 41 and Rishabh Pant's 37, including an unbelievable sixer, that got India to 150 in 49.4 overs with Josh Hazlewood (4/29), Mitchell Starc (2/14 in 11 overs), Pat Cummins (2/67 in 15.4 overs) and Mitchell Marsh (2/12 in 5 overs) sharing the spoils.

On the driver's seat when they came out to reply, Australia had no answer to Bumrah's (4/17 in 10 overs) quality that was on display. Defending a low first innings total cannot be a one-man show and Mohammed Siraj (2/17 in 9 overs) and debutant Harshit Rana (1/33 in 8 overs) stepped up to support their skipper.