It was a rather good day with the bat for Australia as they managed 263 runs in the first innings of the second test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Delhi. Opener Usman Khawaja scored a brilliant 81 runs off 125 balls putting the visitors ahead, while Peter Handscomb contributed to the cause later with an unbeaten 72.
However, despite a better show, David Warner again hogged the limelight, all for negative reasons. The veteran opener yet again fell prey to Mohammad Shami for a cheap 15 continuing his poor runs in the longest format.
“You have been playing in the IPL for 15 years”- Gambhir
Looking at his record, former Indian batter Gautam Gambhir did not shy away from highlighting the batter’s discomfort in playing in the Indian condition
“There is no doubt that if you see this innings from Warner, he was clearly struggling. It was not only against Ashwin, who has an amazing record against him, but also against Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami. This is your third tour and you have been playing in the IPL for 15 years.” said Gambhir.
“It is not that the conditions were very different. The Indian batters go to Australia just 15 days before the Tests, get to play one practice match, and you have played a lot in India and despite that, you have such numbers.”
“He has not liked playing Test cricket in both England and India, so we shouldn’t say that he is an amazing batter. He is an amazing batter only in Australian conditions and nowhere else outside.” he added.
Australia’s ‘Bazball’ approach
Much like their arch-rivals, the Aussies went ahead with the ‘bazball’ or the attacking approach in the second game. And even though it yielded better results, the strategy only worked in patches as it was more about hiding their vulnerabilities against spinners.
Australian team, pic credits: Twitter
Khawaja went in for his shots when possible whose innings ended due to a stellar catch by KL Rahul , while Handscomb too tried attacking the Indian tweakers, much to his credit without trying to over-hit. The strategy was also visible in the team selection as well, as the visitors have come down with three spinners, one of them on debut and skipper Pat Cummins as the only main pacer, which is unconventional of the Kangaroos.
Chasing, India comfortably ended the day with 21 without loss. Rohit Sharma at 13* (34) along with his deputy KL Rahul at 4*(20).
Also Read: IND vs AUS: “Want David Warner To Counter-Attack The Opposition…..”- Australia Skipper Pat Cummins