- Australia was well beaten in first Test
- Came under heavy scrutiny
- Struck back in Adelaide in the best way possible
Australia has opened the second Test against India in the best way possible with Mitchell Starc taking the critical wicket of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with his very first ball.
After a 256-run hammering in Perth, the Aussies are looking to bounce back in the day-night Test in Adelaide.
And after losing the toss, Starc got the Aussies off to a flyer with a vicious in-swinger that cannoned into Jaiswal's pad.
'Mitchell Starc does it again. It's not unfamilar territory,' Aussie legend Adam Gilchrist said in commentary.
'You couldn't have hoped for anything more perfect.'
Australia is bowling first in the crucial day-night clash with India at the Adelaide Oval that shapes as the defining Test of Pat Cummins' captaincy.
Mitchell Starc celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with the first ball of the Adelaide Test
On his return from parental leave, India captain Rohit Sharma chose to bat first after winning the toss on Friday.
Rohit is one of three changes for India, with No.3 Shubman Gill (thumb) and veteran allrounder Ravi Ashwin recalled in place of Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar.
After being crushed by 295 runs in the Border-Gavaskar series-opener in Perth, Australia simply need to keep their perfect pink-ball record at the venue intact.
Not since the 1997 Ashes in England has Australia come-from-behind to eventually win a Test series.
Australian players were bemused by the criticism that followed the Perth massacre, believing the reaction was over-the-top and confident they could still win a Border-Gavaskar series for the first time since 2014-15.
But if the fallout from Optus Stadium was savage, going 2-0 down with a loss in Adelaide would place an ageing team - 10 of the current 11 are aged 30 or older - in serious peril.
Australia will seek to level the five-match series without Josh Hazlewood, who will miss due to a side strain.
Reliable quick Scott Boland was the easiest of inclusions, having kept Hazlewood out of the team for a period when he dominated in 2021-22.
Starc roars after taking the crucial first wicket with his first delivery of the match
Jaiswal was stunned by the delivery that trapped him plumb in front of the stumps in Adelaide
The bowling should fall almost completely to Cummins, Boland, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, despite allrounder Mitch Marsh declared fit to take the ball.
The 33-year-old has been hampered by back soreness since sending down more overs than he and Australia would have preferred in Perth when India piled on second-innings runs.
Marsh didn't bowl at all in the nets during this week, with Australia preferring to keep him as fresh as possible for the match.
But if India's batters get on a roll as they did in Perth, Cummins might not have any other choice but to turn to Marsh, as well as Marnus Labuschagne.
The decision to use Labuschagne's part-time medium pace for crucial overs in the first Test didn't come across well in a historically bad loss.
For four Tests earlier in the year, Australia had the rare option of turning to two genuine allrounders to bowl overs when Cameron Green and Marsh played in the same team.
But with Green ruled out for the entire summer with a back injury and Marsh struggling to maintain full fitness, Australia are suddenly lacking in bowling depth.
The move to throw Labuschagne the ball for crucial overs in Perth was derided, with the No.3's bowling seemingly treated as a joke pre-series.
But if India bat long periods in Adelaide, as they did in the first Test, then Australia might need to turn to Labuschagne again.
