There was a desperation to get that final wicket: Daniel Vettori

Australia’s assistant coach, Daniel Vettori, said the bowling unit was desperate to get India’s final wicket before they could avoid the follow-on on day four of the third Test in Brisbane. However, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep put on an unbeaten stand of 39 runs for the 10th wicket to stop Australia from enforcing the follow-on.

A lot of overs had been lost in the third Test due to persistent rain across the first four days, but when Australia had India down to 74/5 after scoring 445 in the first innings, it looked like the hosts could extract a result by enforcing the follow-on. But that’s when KL Rahul (84) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) added crucial 67 runs for the sixth wicket. The latter then shared a 53-run stand with Nitish Reddy before Bumrah and Akash Deep took India past the follow-on score of 245. 

“The only way to force this game (third Test) was to enforce a follow-on. There was a desperation to get that final wicket and we thought we had a really good chance when Jadeja was dismissed, but it was a real fighting partnership from Bumrah and Akash,” said Vettori after India ended day four at 252/9, still trailing by 193 runs.

“Any batter on any given day can step up and deliver. If you look at their averages, you might think there’s not much there. But Bumrah has proven that he can put on partnerships, attack, and defend. I think Akash is better than the number 11.”

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It’s going to be difficult for Australia to extract a result on day five, considering they will be without Josh Hazlewood, who has been ruled out of the series due to a calf strain. “He is pretty despondent. Obviously, he fell this morning in warm-ups.

“It’s just unfortunate for him to come back after another injury from the first Test and then to pick up a calf injury here. I think the weather allowed us to operate in terms of the breaks, it allowed Mitch [Starc] and Pat [Cummins] to be able to come back on multiple occasions, whereas if we had played out the full 90 overs, it would have been tougher.”

Vettori said the batting unit did the job by posting a big score in the first innings, but the weather has now made things extremely difficult for the bowlers.“The first innings runs were going to be vitally important, and you don’t really want to plan for the weather. 

“The conversation was mainly around making the most of the first and then trusting a very good bowling unit to deliver on this pitch. Unfortunately, the amount of time lost in this game has made it difficult.”

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