The hosts finished Day 1 on 86/1, looking on course for a first-innings lead as they seek to bounce back in the five-Test series. Opener Nathan McSweeney was batting on 38 with Marnus Labuschagne on 20 at the other end.
Earlier, armed with the brand new pink ball, Starc set the tone by dismissing Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw with the first ball of the match.
The left-arm quick let out a roar that showed how much Australia prized the wicket of the dangerous Jaiswal, who smashed a rapid 161 in the series opener in Perth.
Shubman Gill (31), who missed the Perth Test with a thumb injury, played a couple of gorgeous drives but KL Rahul, at the other end, retreated into a defensive shell.
Boland, replacing an injured Josh Hazlewood, first had Rahul caught-behind off a no-ball and suffered more agony four balls later when Usman Khawaja spilled an edge from the batter at first slip.
Starc returned to end the 69-run stand when Rahul (37) guided the ball to McSweeney at gully, looking in two minds whether to play or leave.
In his next over, Starc dismissed Virat Kohli for seven in similar fashion with the batter, who struck a hundred in Perth, attempting to withdraw his bat when it was too late.
Boland cut short Gill’s fluent knock by trapping him lbw in the penultimate over before the dinner break.
India kept losing wickets when play resumed. Rohit, who missed India’s victory in Perth and batted in the middle order, was trapped lbw for three by Boland, while Rishabh Pant (21) was done in by the extra bounce generated by Australia captain Pat Cummins.
Starc dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin for 22 and bowled Harshit Rana in the same over to complete his five-wicket haul.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (42) decided to fight fire with fire and clobbered three sixes, including an audacious reverse scoop against Boland, but India fell short of the 200 mark.
McSweeney had his share of good fortune when Australia came out to bat. The opener edged Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper Pant dived but could not grab the ball, which otherwise would have been a simple catch for Rohit at first slip.
Bumrah could not be denied for long though and Usman Khawaja fell for 13 edging the bowler to Rohit in the slips. Labuschagne and McSweeney treated Bumrah with caution and looked unperturbed against the other seamers.
The opening day drew more than 50,000 fans making it the fourth highest attendance ever for a day of Test cricket at the Adelaide Oval.
4 Five-wicket hauls for Starc in Day-Night Tests. No other bowler has taken more than two
3 Instances of Starc taking a wicket off the first ball of a Test match. He and Pedro Collins are the only bowlers to strike with the first ball of a Test on three occasions
6/48 Starc’s bowling figures are his best in Tests. It was his maiden five-wicket haul against India
50 Wickets by Jasprit Bumrah in Tests in 2024. He is only the third India fast bowler to achieve this milestone in a calendar year, after Kapil Dev (74 in 1979 and 75 in 1983) and Zaheer Khan (51 in 2002). Bumrah is also the first fast bowler to take 50-plus wickets in a calendar year since Pat Cummins in 2019
