Starc remains Australia’s biggest weapon: Marsh

Fast bowler Mitchell Starc remains Australia’s most potent weapon with the ball despite their spinners stealing the show in the series opener against India, team mate Mitchell Marsh said yesterday.On the turning track in Pune, left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe bagged 12 wickets while slow-bowling partner Nathan Lyon took five as the touring side thumped India by 333 runs inside three days in the first match of the four-Test series.Nature of the pitch meant left-armer Starc bowled only 11 overs in the first Test but his workload could increase significantly at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium which hosts the second Test from tomorrow.“He’s one of the best bowlers in the world, if not the best bowler in the world,” all-rounder Marsh told reporters on Thursday. “He’s certainly the best reverse swing bowler in the world.“In these conditions, whilst all the talk has been about the spinners he’s still our biggest weapon, I think.“It’s great if he’s in the Indians’ heads, hopefully he can take a few wickets for us.”The Bengaluru track is not expected to provide as much turn as Pune for the slow bowlers and the pacemen’s ability to reverse swing the old ball could prove crucial.Marsh said Australia is well equipped in that department with Starc and Josh Hazlewood in their side.“In Pune the wicket itself did a lot of work for us, it’s not necessarily the square here,” Marsh said. “These balls scuff up well early on. Reverse swing will be huge for us.“If we can get it going we’ve got two of the best reverse swing bowlers in the world. They will still be huge weapons for us.”On the slow and dry tracks in Asia, where Australia had lost their last nine Tests before their Pune heroics, defence was a key aspect of batting, according to Marsh.“It’s a big part of playing well over here, and it’s something all our batsmen have worked on,” the 25-year-old said. “Against a turning ball, if you can back your defence then attacking the ball that’s there will be much better.“In these conditions you’ve got to earn the right to attack and that’s by having a solid defence. That’s what I’ve been working on.”Pune defeat history: KumbleMeanwhile, India coach Anil Kumble urged his team to move on from the debacle in the opening Test against Australia.While Virat Kohli’s men won in Sri Lanka and West Indies, they also vanquished South Africa, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh for six straight series victories.“You can’t keep winning every game. It has to come to an end at some point of time,” Kumble, 46, told reporters yesterday.“Twenty games in current scenario of Test cricket, it’s quite challenging for an international side to keep going out there and winning. That’s what this team has been able to do across conditions.“We have adapted to various conditions and various situations and that’s what we didn’t do in the last game. That’s why the result didn’t go our way.”The former spinner, also India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests, said Pune was just a blip in an otherwise bumper home season.“I don’t want to look back. We are here to look ahead. As a coach it’s more important for me to look ahead,” said Kumble, who took over the coaching reins last year.“It was one of those games where things didn’t go our way and we just need to move on. Another three Test matches in the series and we are really looking forward to that.“We have had a fantastic home season and it’s just one of those games where things didn’t go our way.”Kumble said Australia were a quality opposition but India did not play to their potential.Asked about the nature of pitch to be used for the second Test, the Bengaluru native said: “It’s generally been a good batting surface and I’m sure it’s going to be a result wicket.“That’s exactly what we want in a Test match.”