India’s first-choice pacer, Umesh Yadav became(101) the fastest Indian pacer to take 100 wickets at home. The 35-year-old is only the fifth Indian to enter the 100-wicket club reaching the milestone in 31 matches, alongside Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan, and others. Often under-rated, Umesh with 46.1, boasts of the best bowling strike rate in India.
An absolute gun pacer in the home conditions, he along with Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Australia’s last 6 batters within just 11 runs, producing a spell of 3/12 with the old ball, to produce a small comeback however, after another batting collapse, it is a mere total of 76 runs for the baggy greens to chase. But does India still have a chance?
“I think we have a very good chance”-Umesh Yadav
High on confidence after his 3-wicket haul, the pacer believes that the hosts still have a chance, as they get ready to defend a low total of 76 runs on day 3. The lowest India has ever defended has been 107 runs back in 2004.
“We will remain positive. It’s cricket and with the way the pitch is playing, you never know, anything can happen. We are trying our best. We will try to get early wickets and keep it tight on Day 3 morning. We will try and get quick wickets,” said Umesh.
“With the way the pitch is playing, it’s not going to be easy for anyone to score runs freely. It’s not easy to step out and hit it over the field or play something fancy. There is very less bounce on the pitch, so you won’t be 100 percent sure of stepping out and playing those lofted shots. I think we have a very good chance. We have 75 runs, it’s less but we will try and keep it tight,” he added.
Chance for First win since 2017!
Better batting display, Lyon’s brilliance, Steven Smith’s distinct captaincy approach, and most importantly less usage of the sweeps and reverse sweeps could pretty much summarizes Australia’s first two days on a pitch that is hard to bat on. Constantly in the driving seat, the visitors have a target of 76 to chase, to register their first win on Indian soil since 2017. It is a chance to take something back from the series and may as well hope for a draw.