Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that a cheeky remark from India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy may have sparked a fire in Mitchell Starc, leading to the pacer’s career-best performance in the second Test in Adelaide.

In the series opener in Perth, where Jaiswal scored a brilliant 161, the young Indian reportedly told Starc that he was “bowling too slow.” Although Starc initially responded with a smile, this remark seemingly fueled his motivation. In the very next Test in Adelaide, Starc dismissed Jaiswal for a duck with his first ball and went on to claim a remarkable eight-wicket haul, playing a key role in Australia’s victory.

Ponting, reflecting on Starc’s fiery comeback, said,

“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. 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?" Ponting said.

“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.

Starc’s pink-ball prowess was also a point of discussion, with Ponting noting that the pacer’s exceptional pink-ball record could be attributed to its similarity to the white ball.

"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.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 concluded.