Melbourne [Australia], December 3 (ANI): Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist said that Australian batters would need to spend more time at the crease while batting if they want to succeed in the pink-ball Test against India at Adelaide, the second of the hotly-contested Border-Gavaskar Trophy, reported Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
The Adelaide test will kickstart from December 6 onwards, with India heading into the game with a mental and physical edge over the Aussies who were left devastated by Bumrah’s bowling and captaincy during a 295-run loss at Perth’s Optus Stadium in the first Test.
However, the visitors would be looking to overcome the ghosts of the 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, which saw them being bundled out for their lowest Test score of 36 runs, starting that series on a nightmarish note. Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) had run riot over the Indian line-up in the second innings, getting an easy target of 90 runs to chase.
After Bumrah ripped through the Aussie line-up, taking eight wickets including a fifer in the first innings at Perth, Gilchrist adviced the struggling hosts to go defensive and “weather the storm”
Gilchrist said that Marnus tried to stay long at the crease during his 52-ball stay during the Perth Test, in which he scored two runs, but that would not always be the case for Aussies as they would be on the “right side of the ledger” more often than the wrong.
“Marnus had the onus to do that and tried at good effect to nullify 50-odd deliveries. So, if you face an average of 50 deliveries every Test innings, you’re probably going to be on the right side of the ledger more than you’re on the wrong side of it,” he said as quoted by Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
“He just couldn’t find a way to score and maybe that’s what [the Australians] as a collective will look to try and do.
“It will bring with it risk, for sure, but it is a risk for reward,” he signed off.
Gilchrist also backed Sean Abbott, who boasts an average of 24.55 and a century in first-class cricket, to come into the side as a cover for an injured Josh Hazlewood in case they feel any vulnerability with the bat.
“They did send out the SOS to him,” Gilchrist said.
Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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