Mitchell Starc: India scared of losing to Australia at home

NEW DELHI: Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has claimed that the reason India have come hard at the visitors in the ongoing four-Test series is because they are scared of losing them in home conditions.
"It's probably come a lot more from their side than ours," Starc told Fox Sports on Tuesday when asked about the various instances of on-field aggression between India and Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Apart from the intense on-field contest, the various flare-ups between the cricketers from both the sides have also made the news. "There's been a lot made of it before the series, there was so much hype before the series, and I think we've gone about the cricket as we have done for a long time now. As a young group, we're probably still finding our way. We're still learning about each other's games and how we're going as a team probably since the Hobart Test match. It's probably showed in how the guys have been playing their cricket, especially yesterday [Monday] the way they batted," the 27-year-old said.
On the final day of the third Test in Ranchi, Australia managed to stave off Indian bowlers while batting in the second innings and thus denied the hosts a 2-1 lead thanks to some resolute batting. Starc praised Peter Handscomb whose 200-ball 72 not out was instrumental in forcing a draw.
"A couple of young guys performed outstandingly well, Peter Handscomb. It shows who we are as a group and things have come hard, and it's almost a defensive mechanism for them that we won the first Test match, we're here for the challenge.
"They were scared of us, beating them in India the way they've been playing as well, so it was almost a defensive mechanism for them and obviously, they come out in the second Test match, performed really well and got back into it," said Starc who had to leave the India tour midway after suffering a stress fracture in his right foot.