Pujara Advises Struggling Indian Batters on How to Neutralize Mitchell Starc: 'Force Him to Bowl More'

Veteran Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara commended Australia paceman Mitchell Starc for his outstanding performance in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pujara, who has faced Starc in numerous intense duels in the past, noted that the left-arm fast bowler has made significant improvements to his bowling, particularly in terms of accuracy, which had been lacking in previous series.

Starc has made an impact with the new ball against India in the ongoing series, and his swinging deliveries have caused problems for the top-order batters.

Pujara said that when he faced Starc in the last two Test series Down Under, the Indian batters looked confident against him to score runs.

"He has been their best bowler thus far in this series. He has improved his bowling a lot in the last one to one-and-a-half years. He has a lot of ability. If I talk about my personal experience, when he used to come to bowl in the last two series, we felt we could get runs," he responded.

Meanwhile, that hasn't been the case this time. Starc has targeted the stumps more this series, as Pujara suggested, and his disciplined line and length helped him get a swing both ways.

"However, now it seems like when he will come to bowl, he will pick up wickets. His accuracy has improved a lot. He is bowling very few loose deliveries. He is bowling at the stumps. Every ball is hitting the good length spot. He is getting swing. He has become a different bowler," Pujara elaborated.

Starc has been the joint-highest wicket-taker for Australia after the first three Tests with 14 wickets in his kitty.

Pujara, who has been doing the commentating duties in this series, advised the Indian batters to be cautious against Starc in the first spell and look to target later in the game when the ball gets old.

"He is looking more dangerous than (Pat) Cummins and (Josh) Hazlewood. So we will have to manage his bowling, especially with the new ball. He has taken most of his wickets in his first five overs, his first spell. So we need to bat well in the first five overs. Make him bowl the second and third spells because he gets tired," he said.