India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s cheeky sledge to Mitchell Starc during the first BGT 2024 Test in Perth was tha catalyst to the left-arm pacer destroying the Indian batting lineup in fthe irst innings of the second Test in Brisbane, former captain Ricky Ponting opined.

Jaiswal hit 161 in the second innings of the series' first game in Perth, taunting Starc for "bowling too slow" throughout his great effort.

Starc was amused by the statement at the time, but the left-arm fast bowler had the last laugh when he dismissed India's opener for a duck with a peach of an opening ball in the Adelaide Test.

While discussing Starc's performance, Ponting suggested that Jaiswal's sarcastic remark may have given the experienced player some more motivation.

"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 on the ICC Review show.

Mitchell Starc picked career-best figures of 6/48 in the first innings of the Adelaide Test as India crashed out for 180 runs, eventually losing the game by 10 wickets.

Ponting emphasized how Starc has modified his bowling technique to guarantee durability in all game types.

"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.

"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.

With the 5-Test series leveled 1-1, India and Australia will clash in the third Test in Brisbane on December 14.