IND vs AUS: Tim Paine criticizes Starc; Johnson offers help ahead of Perth Test

Tim Paine criticized Australian speedster Mitchell Starc saying that he did not set the world on fire and for a long time there's been a really big gap between Starc's best and his worst

Australia skipper Tim Paine criticized Australian speedster Mitchell Starc saying that he did not set the world on fire and for a long time there's been a really big gap between Starc's best and his worst.

Starc managed two wickets in the first innings and three in the second in Adelaide, where India emerged victorious by 31 runs.

"There was a number of reasons why we lost," Paine said.

"We thought we could have cleaned them up on day one for 200-210 and we let that slip a bit. Clearly we'd like to score more than 230 in a first innings in Australia. There's things we do need to tighten up."

"He (Mitchell Starc) didn't set the world on fire but I think, for a long time, there's been a really big gap between Starcy's best and his worst," said Paine.

"And from what I'm seeing, that is getting closer and closer every day. Was he at his best? Probably not. But I still thought he played his role," the 34-year-old added.

However, Mitchell Johnson, the fifth-highest wicket-taker for Australia in Test history, has offered to help Mitchell Starc rediscover his rhythm ahead of the second Test against India in Perth, where the fast pitch can have the Australian pace spearhead "alive and going".

"Everyone operates in a different way and I've already sent him a couple of text messages to see if he wants to catch up and have a chat about things because I have worked with him in the past and you get to know people really well," Johnson said on BBC's Stumps podcast.

"It just looked like there was something on his mind, something's not quite clicking. We'll sit down hopefully before the Perth Test match starts.

Johnson is hoping that the WACA wicket plays true to its reputation to help Starc play solid and aggressive.