Adelaide Test: We left Perth in Perth, shut outside noise, says Starc

Mitchell Starc's career-best bowling in the first innings and the crucial strikes in the second were instrumental in beating India in the day-and-night Test match at the Adelaide Oval. His winning mantra was simple. Leave the first Test loss behind and shut out the 'outside' noise. 

"There was a lot of outside noise after the game but we left Perth in Perth. Cannot really put my finger on it," Starc said after the end of the match.

A 295-run embarrassing defeat despite bowling India out for just 150 in the first innings invited criticism for the hosts from ex-players, spectators and commentators.

Living up to his reputation with the pink ball, left-arm quick Starc handed Australia a dream start by dismissing Perth centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal in the very first ball of the second Test en route to finishing with an impressive match haul of 8/108. "We were really positive with bat and ball and got the rewards. It's nice when the ball hits the stumps," Starc said.

Australia have never lost a day-and-nighter in Adelaide. Starc made the ball dance to his tune in the match. "Nothing changes in my approach. Probably slightly fuller lengths. It (the pink ball) is more like the white ball than the red ball."

He credited his skipper, Pat Cummins, with helping him grow and highlighted improvements in his bowling, including mastering deliveries that move away and those that swing back.

Cummins hailed the match-winning knock by Travis Head, who has been a thorn in the flesh for India. "Head loves batting here. The game could have gone either way when he walked in, but he shifted the momentum in our favour."

Didn't play well enough: Rohit Sharma
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma admitted Australia emerged a better team in the contest. "It’s been a disappointing week for us. We didn’t play well enough to win the game. Australia played better than us. There were times when we could have grabbed the opportunity but failed, which cost us the game," he said.

He asked other bowlers to share responsibility with Jaspreet Bumrah. "Bumrah cannot alone take responsibility. You don't expect him to bowl from both ends. The other guys also need to step in and share the responsibility. There will be days when Bumrah won't get wickets," Rohit said at the post-match press conference.

There has been calls to bring Mohammed Shami on an SOS basis but while Rohit said that "doors are open" for the Bengal pacer, he informed that the bowler has developed swelling in his knee.

"Door is very much open for Mohammed Shami but while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali he developed swelling. We are monitoring him and we don't want to put pressure on him," he added.