New Delhi: Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar pointed out where the Indian bowlers lacked during the second Test match against Australia on the first day at the Adelaide Oval in the pink-ball day-night Test match.
India opted to bat first but the decision backfired after the visitors were skittled out for a sub-par 180 as Australian bowling spearhead Mitchell Starc fired on all cylinders in order to register his career-best bowling figures of 6 for 48.
Australia just lost one wicket in the final session with Usman Khawaja poking one to the slip cordon off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling. Youngster Nathan McSweeney (38*) and stylish batter Marnus Labuschagne (20*) hold their ground firm as Australia finished at 86 for 1 at the end of stumps on Day 1, trailing by 94 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Gavaskar wasn’t pleased with the way Indian bowlers executed their plans with the pink ball and recounted how this was different from their approach in Perth.
“They have to make the batters play as much as they can. And this is what happens when you make the batters play as much as you can,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“You can set them up by bowling a couple of deliveries outside and then get the ball to move back in, as it did to Nathan McSweeney in the Perth Test, or to Labuschagne in the Perth Test, like what Bumrah did. The Indian bowlers have not really used the pink ball as well as they should have,” he added.
Ex Aussie player heaps praise on Mitchell Starc
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc was phenomenal with his bowling plans. A shrewd outswinger to trap Indian batter Yashasvi Jaiswal for a golden duck set the tone for Australia’s potential comeback in the series. The lanky pacer kept varying his lengths to pick his maiden five-wicket haul against India in Tests, although he’s played them in 20 Tests till now since 2012. Starc has accounted for 72 dismissals only in the day-night Test format with the pink cherry, including two fifers.
Former Australian batter Matthew Hayden lauded the efforts of Starc to move the pink ball by leaps and bounds.
“He has that scrambled seam delivery that goes across the right-hander, but when he does have that ability – which he did – I must admit I was a little surprised. I’ve never really seen the pink ball swing into the sort of 40th over and so aggressively swing as well,” Hayden said.
Sunil Gavaskar criticized India’s ineffective pink-ball bowling strategy in the Adelaide Test against Australia, contrasting it with their Perth performance. India’s batting also faltered, resulting in a measly score of 180/10. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
