Page 39 - The Indian EYE 022423

SPORTS FEBRUARY 24, 2023 | The Indian Eye 39

playing these shots against him is not batting collapse that cost them the
a good option on this kind of wicket. second Test in less than a session.
As many as six Australian batters India’s spinner dominated the
fell while sweeping or reverse-sweep- proceedings in the first session, roll-
ing in the innings. After bowlers skit- ing Australia out for 113. The hosts
tled out visitors for 113, Rohit Shar- chased down the target with six wick-
ma, Srikar Bharat and Cheteshwar ets in hand. After bowlers skittled
Pujara held their ground to help In- out visitors for 113, Rohit Sharma,
dia register an emphatic 6-wicket vic- Srikar Bharat and Cheteshwar Pu-
tory against Australia in the second jara held their ground to help India
Test match of the Border-Gavaskar register an emphatic 6-wicket victory
Trophy here at Arun Jaitley Stadium against Australia in the second Test
in Delhi on Sunday. match of the Border-Gavaskar Tro-
“Don’t think a sweep is a good phy here at Arun Jaitley Stadium in
option against me on this kind of Delhi on Sunday.
wicket,” Ravindra Jadeja said in the After the Nagpur loss, Cummins
post-match presentation. urged his batters to be courageous
and proactive, but he later acknowl-
Left-arm spinner Jadeja was edged that his team may have taken
things too far the other way in Del-
the tormentor-in-chief with a hi. Six of the dismissals came during

career-best 7/42 in the sec- frantic 90-minute periods against
Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who
ond innings while his part- shared all 10 of the innings’ wickets
ner-in-crime Ashwin picked between them.
“Nagpur maybe [we] under-
3/59. Australian batters fell played it, we probably overplayed it

to a mix of bad sweep shots here at times in the second innings.
You’ve got to find a way to try and
and accurate deliveries put pressure back on the bowlers.
which kept low, sliding from They’re really, really good bowlers,
especially in these conditions. Prob-
85/2 to 113 all out. ably just at times maybe just over-
played it,” Cummins said in a post-
match conference.
India’s spinner dominated the
“I thought they bowled real-
proceedings in the first session, roll- ly well. It’s not easy out there. But
ing Australia out for 113. The hosts perhaps some guys went away from
chased down the target with six wick- their methods. Each batter has their
ets in hand. own way to go about it. I don’t think
“I think I was enjoying my bowl-
ing. These wickets suit me because there’s any one size fits all rule. Un-
fortunately, quite a few of us got out
the odd ball spins and some stay low. with kind of cross-batted shots which
I knew they’d play sweeps and reverse might not be our preferred method,”
sweeps, so my idea was just keeping it Ravindra Jadeja poses for a photo with the Man of the Match trophy at Arun Jaitley Stadium he added.
simple and straight. I knew they were in New Delhi on Sunday (ANI) For Australia’s batsmen in par-
looking for runs, so the plan was just ticular, there will be a lot of intro-
bowling into the stumps. If they make when Ashwin walked into bat with too many runs in the evening, I think spection, according to Cummins. Yet
a mistake, I have a chance,” he said. Axar at the other end, trailing the we bowled probably wrong and were the team may potentially undergo
Coming to match, India retained
the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by tak- visitors by 124 runs. The duo stitched all over the place, and they came some adjustments. As many as six
a 114-run stand for the eighth wick-
Australian batters fell while sweeping
hard at us, but we course-corrected
ing a 2-0 lead in the four-match se- et helping the hosts recover in the this morning. It was just brilliant then or reverse-sweeping in the innings.
ries. Pujara (31*) and Bharat (23*) first inning. “This Test match moved how the game moved. I think it was “We’ve got a bit of time. We’ll
played till the end to guide their team up and down, but today morning it about sticking to a length and letting have a good think. Have a look at
home. For India, Ravindra Jadeja moved really quickly for us. I think the wicket do it for us. I felt yesterday different things. I think over the next
ripped through Australia with seven it was the partnership between Axar we overpitched too much, and hon- day or two we’ll look at any changes
for 42.
and Ashwin that changed things. We estly, we learnt from what Australia in the squad as well. Mitchell Swep-
AXAR & ASHWIN CHANGED wanted to chase something close to and Nathan Lyon did. I think the bal- son has gone home, he’s a chance of
THINGS: DRAVID 200-225 and that partnership en- ance that we have is brilliant, there’s coming back. Hopefully Cam Green
abled us to get back, or we’d have great depth to be able to play 9 bat- is available, [Josh] Hazlewood,
ndia head coach Rahul Dravid been trailing,” expressed Dravid. ters,” the former India batter said. [Mitchell] Starc, we’ll manage that,”
highlighted the crucial partner- The head coach also spoke about Batters went away from their Cummins said.
Iship between Axar Patel and India’s bowling in the last session on methods: Cummins “We’ll assess it over the next
Ravichandran Ashwin as the turning the second day of the Test and men- Australia skipper Pat Cummins couple of days. [We’ve] probably got
point of the second Test in Delhi after tioned that the bowlers were sprayed has acknowledged that his team’s enough time to have a bit of a break,
the hosts’ six-wicket victory against away from their lengths resulting in batter overplayed their hands in their a bit of a refresh, and still plenty of
Australia. Australia scoring quick runs. second innings, going above and be- time to roll up the sleeves before the
India were in trouble at 139/7 “A bit of a downer to concede yond the call of duty in a spectacular next one,” he added.

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