Mitchell Starc is an open book.

He is and always has been a bowler who wears his form all over his face. You can generally tell early in a day, Test or summer what sort of Starc you are about to get.

With the chest puffed out, rhythm in the run-up and a focus in the eye, there are few more fearsome sights in the game. But then there is the hangdog Starc, the one that used to drive Shane Warne crazy in commentary, who lacks purpose and conviction in his own obvious talents.

From the outset of this Test summer, Starc has broadcast as clear as day that the former had arrived for this series. And with the very first ball in Adelaide he underlined this for effect.

The combination of the pink ball and a slightly greenish wicket has always made for a flattering combination on Starc and with one delivery, a violently hooping out-swinger that unbalanced and dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal, the great barometer of the Australian bowling attack signalled his intent.

Lost in the frenzy of Perth was one of the most promising and complete Starc spells in quite some time. In India's ill-fated first innings, he was the pick of the bowlers even as Josh Hazlewood took the wickets.

At his best, Starc is known for blowing batters away. Yorkers crashing into pegs or bouncers catching a glove flashed in instinctive self-protection. But in Perth he showed his sensitive side, working the Indian top order over with patience and an unfamiliar precision.

There were shades of a late-career Brett Lee, who also traded sheer terror for a skilful maturity, in the performance that brought missable figures of 2-14 from 11 overs.

Then Starc had to face 112 balls with the bat as the Aussies imploded, before fatigue brought the entire attack to its knees in the second innings and the Test descended into farce. Starc's bright start, which at one point threatened to be the story, was barely a footnote.

That one delivery to Jaiswal, so freakishly similar to the one which skittled Rory Burns with the first ball of the 2021/22 Ashes, made sure he would get his flowers in Adelaide.

There is a unique skill to conquering the pink ball as a bowler, as the Indian quicks discovered later on day one. It's a swinging, seaming gift in the right hands but isn't so simple to tame.

Starc is now clearly the master of it. He doesn't fall into the trap of just trying to swing it as much and as dramatically as he can, but is still happy to use bounce and cross-seam deliveries to out-think his opponent at the other end.

That's how he did for both KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, with back-of-a-length balls that would trouble a batter on any surface in Australia and with a ball of any colour. Again, these were wickets borne out of methodical and thoughtful fast bowling.

Of course when the lower order is exposed there is nothing wrong with a few unplayable yorkers.

Ravi Ashwin and Harshit Rana stood no chance in the face of what were far more typical Starc wicket balls. Full, fast, swinging in late, stumps or big toe smashed.

It was statistically the best bowling performance of his career, in this his 91st Test. It does not feel like he is done making the most of this run of form.

And yet every Starc wicket came with a caveat for every Australian. Who among us could watch that ball swing and seam, the batters edging and jumping and tripping over themselves, and not have nightmarish visions of Jasprit Bumrah having his turn?

On the evidence of Perth it should have been lambs to the slaughter. But on night one in Adelaide it was a different Australia, and a different Bumrah too.

The Indian marvel bowled well — he knows no other way — but in and around the good ones were a few too many wide deliveries. On the whole, Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney were allowed to leave far more balls than in Perth and as a result the pressure never reached such a fever pitch.

Marnus Labuschagne's arrival created another sideshow as he attempted to dance and twitch and provoke his way back into form.

The leniency afforded to Khawaja and McSweeney meant Labuschagne could come in at the end of Bumrah's first spell rather than at its peak, a luxury for a man fighting with every ball for his Test career.

It wasn't vintage Marnus, or perhaps it was. He scrapped and struggled, deflected and hustled, but this time would not be removed. His endeavour has earned him the chance to save his spot in the sunshine of day two.

He will be joined by McSweeney, who looked every bit a Test cricketer on his way to 38 not out at stumps. His long-term position may not necessarily be at the top of the order, but his temperament and technique give hope for a long career at the level.

You could almost see the weight fall off McSweeney's shoulders as he rocked back and pulled Rana through midwicket for a revelatory boundary. With that one swing of the bat and the vision of the ball racing to the rope, the familiarity must have surely made him feel as if he belonged.

Australia could hardly have wished for a better day one, especially after the toss fell in India's favour. Hailing a momentum shift in the series would be premature but opportunity presents itself now for the hosts.

All of it was set up by Starc, the young tearaway turned wily veteran. He will be begging his batters can afford him the day off he deserves.

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