Yashasvi Jaiswal was sent off for a first-ball duck as India opted for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide on Friday. Jaiswal, who faced Mitchell Starc, could not adjust to the late swing as he was trapped in front of the wickets. This was the third time that Starc had taken the wicket on the first ball of the innings in a Test match and on this occasion he dismissed the dangerous Jaiswal, who had hit a brilliant 161 in the previous Test in Perth.

However, there is an interesting subplot to this dismissal. Starc was thrilled after removing Jaiswal, and rightly so; In the previous Test, the Indian batsman had beaten Starc and described him as “slow” when he faced him during the century knock. When Starc finally sacked the young opener on Friday, many on social media reminded Jaiswal about his sledding and former Australia opener Justin Langer also reacted to the incident.

Speaking to Star Sports, Langer said one of the “bitter” lessons he learned was that the bowlers always “get the last laugh”.

“One thing I learned at a young age is that the bowlers are always the last to laugh. “You’ll get out eventually,” Langer said.

“Yes, you can maybe joke around a bit with the bowler, but the bowlers always have the last laugh. It’s a bitter lesson I learned early on and Mitchell Starc got the last laugh here.”

India in early trouble

Despite the early setback, India were on the road to rebuilding thanks to KL Rahul and Shubman Gill’s 69-run partnership for the second wicket. However, Rahul’s dismissal triggered another batting collapse as India lost their next three wickets within just 18 runs.

Virat Kohli, also a centurion from the previous Test, also fell to Starc as he fended off a throw outside the off-stump to easily catch slips. Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma failed in his return to the XI as a middle-order batsman as he took just 3 off 23 deliveries against Scott Boland.