NEWS
Follow UsAustralia have their backs against the wall in the Perth Test against India. The hosts were at the top of the proceedings after the first two sessions on Day 1 (November 22), having bowled out India for 150. However, the Aussies have now been on the back foot for four sessions in a row, they got bowled out for 104, despite a 10th wicket partnership that lasted for over 18 overs between Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.
To make matters worse, they couldn’t make any inroads into India’s batting order in the second innings after bowling 57 overs on Day 2. The Indian openers — KL Rahul (62*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (90*) — remain unseparated at stumps on the second day’s play. India finished the day at 172/0, extending their lead to 218 runs.
It is a stark turnaround from the first innings with Australia having a lot of hard toil to do for a comeback in this Test.
While the former cricketer and fast-bowling great, Glenn McGrath, called the Australian bowlers flat in the second innings, the head coach Andrew McDonald had a different opinion. McDonald reckoned the conditions have changed and Australia were also on the shorter side of the luck, saying the Australian seamers bowled well without the wickets’ column vindicating their efforts.
“I think the wicket has changed considerably, that’s the first point. If you look at the swing and the seam, it's down compared to yesterday,” the head coach said in the press conference after the second day’s play.
“The surface looked considerably drier today. It dried out fairly quickly. We thought there would be a little bit more there. I think the bowlers were presenting the seam pretty much in a similar fashion as yesterday but there was not much movement,” he expanded.
Having batted for 342 balls, Rahul and Jaiswal have forged the third-longest opening stand against Australia in Australia in Test cricket. There were a few play and misses but the Indian batters were largely judicious in their judgment of which ball to play and which one to let go.
“I think KL [Rahul] and [Yashasvi] Jaiswal played extremely well. You need to ride your luck a little bit. Our guys got the ball in the balls in the right area and there were some plays and misses. Anything can happen if you get the edges on that and it could have been a totally different day. I think the conditions have changed,” McDonald elaborated on the second innings of this Perth Test.
Asked what extent of the target Australia would be comfortable chasing, the 43-year-old said the focus is firstly on picking the 10 wickets, and the second new ball (which is still 23 overs away) is their next big hope to get the first job done.
“We are not looking that far [at our target]. We have 10 wickets to take first. No target. Clearly, 10 wickets first,” he said.
“It’ll be management into that second new ball, making sure that we’ve got the energy for that. That’s our opportunity, our entry point into the game. We’ve got a little bit of work to do before then and if we can pick up a few into that second new ball, that gives us the opportunity. That’s where our minds are at this stage,” the head coach explained.
In any case, Australia will need a big batting effort in the second innings. That is where the form of their number three batter, Marnus Labuschagne, will come under the spotlight. Labuschagne hasn’t scored a hundred in the last nine Tests and managed only 2 runs off 51 balls in the first innings which also raised questions on his batting methods.
“He’s working on his game as hard as ever. There’s no doubt he can learn some lessons from the first innings. He was in the nets this morning working through what his method is going to be in the second innings. And clearly, your mindset changes based upon the conditions as well.
“So the game plan from the first innings is going to look different from the second innings. Test cricket is a unique game. You get two bites at it. So we look forward to that opportunity with the bat when it does come,” McDonald said staying positive about both Australia’s chances and Labuschagne’s return to form.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here.
