New Delhi: Australia have decided not to include their woefully out of form batters in the Prime Minister’s XI against India in a tour game to be played in Canberra.
Australian batters struggled en masse against the potent Indian bowling line-up led by Jasprit Bumrah, leading to calls from former players of fielding them in the two-day pink-ball practice game ahead of the second Test in Adelaide on December 6 that will be a day/night match.
But the hosts, under pressure after trailing 0-1 in the five-match Border-Gavaskar series, resisted from taking such a decision, as they remain confident that their fumbling batters, including star Steve Smith, will find a way to tackle Bumrah and Co.
“This was partly because time at home was considered important for the players, and also because the Australian camp do not want to give the Indian brains trust another look at any of their Test batters before the five-match series resumes,” a report in the Sydney Morning Herald said.
Trust the process
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald had also ruled out the possibility, keeping faith with the amount of preparation before the Adelaide game.
“No, that hasn’t crossed our minds. We feel that with the long summer ahead, the prep we’ve got in place – albeit we’ve extended that by a day in Adelaide – we’ll be well prepared, as we were leading into the first Test,” McDonald said.
“No, we were thinking about Test one. You always look to get a positive start to the summer – it’s not like you’re focusing on Test match five in terms of where you want to be then. Banking wins is critical, and we’ve got our work cut out as to how we turn that around.
McDonald pointed out that batters had enough preparation before the Perth game and it shouldn’t be put forward as an excuse for their non-performance.
“Match one was our primary focus, and you saw that in the way that we prepared players. We gave up on some international games for certain players, we went through Shield, so we felt the preparation this summer was probably more extensive than previous summers.
“We were comfortable, and the preparation is not an excuse for the performance,” McDonald said.
No.3 batter Marnus Labuschagne managed only five runs (2, 3) in Perth but is expected to be retained, keeping in mind his impressive record in pink-ball Tests.
Australian batters struggled against the potent Indian bowling line-up led by Jasprit Bumrah in the Perth Test Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
