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'I think that smile on his face might be just a bit of a cover for the fire that's burning inside.'
Australia legend Ricky Ponting believes a cheeky comment from India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal may have ignited Mitchell Starc's career-best performance during the second Test in Adelaide.
Jaiswal, who slammed 161 in the first Test in Perth, remarked during the series opener that Starc was 'bowling too slow', which might have ended up being the spark for the Australian pacer's fiery display in Perth, claims Ponting.
Starc dismissed the jibe with a wry smile at the time, but had the last laugh when he dismissed Jaiswal for a golden duck with a superb delivery off the first ball of the Adelaide Test.
"He's actually a pretty level-headed guy, Mitchell Starc. He doesn't get flustered too much, even you see when he's bowling now," Ponting said on The ICC Review.
"And if one of the batters does happen to say something, he generally responds with a little smile on his face."
"But I think that smile on his face might be just a bit of a cover for the fire that's burning inside. Look, he bowled beautifully in Adelaide didn't he," he added.
He also praised the rest of the Australian team, particularly Pat Cummins and Travis Head, for their vital contributions in Australia's dominant 10-wicket victory.
"I said in the lead-up that Australia's senior players had to really stand up and change what had happened in Perth."
"When they lost the toss, and Australia were bowling, it was up to Cummins and Starc to set the tone from the very start of that game."
"Starc takes a wicket first ball, happens to beat Jaiswal that had made 160 in the last innings he played against Australia. And that really set the tone for the whole Test match. I thought Starc was outstanding. Career-best figures 6/48 in the first innings and then the captain (Cummins) comes into his own in the second innings and leads the way with the ball in the second innings. So lots of really good signs," he added.
"That's the sort of bounce-back that you would expect from the Australian team."
Ponting lauded Starc’s evolution as a bowler, adding that that the 34-year-old remains one of the most accomplished pacers in contemporary cricket. With 692 wickets across all formats, the 34-year-old boasts of an impressive career including two World Cup titles (2015 and 2023), the T20 World Cup in 2021, and the World Test Championship in 2023.
"He certainly deserves high praise. I mean, he's probably in the last couple of years been better than he's ever been."
"And the reason that I say that is I think he's a more consistent bowler now than he's ever been before, yet his pace is still about the same as it always was. I mean, he could bowl over 150km/h probably a few years ago and he's in absolute prime now. He's sort of operating in the mid-140s, but his consistency, the way he's starting spells is really good now as well," he said.
Ponting credited Starc's success with the pink ball, citing its similarities to the white ball as a factor in his stellar performances under lights.
"I was really impressed by how he started his first spell in Perth and then the way he started his first spell in Adelaide was obviously unbelievably good. So his pink-ball record speaks for itself and I think talking to some of the players as well, I think the reason why his pink ball record is so good is I think the pink ball actually performs very similar to the white ball," he added.
"And we know what sort of record that Mitchell Starc has got with a white-ball. That might be a part of the reason why," he remarked.
"He's not slowing down. That's just not pace that he's bowling. That's the way that he's bowling. So looking at him, (Josh) Hazelwood and Cummins, they could be around for another couple of years together yet."