After experiencing a humiliating defeat in the Boxing Day Test, the Australians are eyeing comeback against India in Sydney. The third match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled to begin on January 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground while the hosts are searching out ways to counter the tourists.
Ahead of next Test match, Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne stated that they need to do something so that they can put the pressure back on India. During the pre-match virtual presser, Labuschagne suggested that the Aussies need to be utterly disciplined before it’s too late.
“They (Indian bowlers) have certainly come in with a plan… and made sure they’re really not leaving the stumps and having a really heavy leg-side field. It obviously slows your scoring rate down because those shots you do get on your legs go for one, not four.
“We need to be very disciplined and we also need to come up with ways to put them under pressure,” Labuschagne said in a virtual press conference.
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Labuschagne, who is the leading run-scorer for Australia in the ongoing Test with , has also commented on his team batting standards. He said that the Aussies need to keep grinding and get better.
“There’s definitely talk about rotating the strike and finding your boundary option. (They are) the normal things you talk about when facing any bowling attack, and where you can get a little upper hand against a certain bowler at a certain time in the game,” Labuschagne said.
“They’re the things we’re always talking about and trying to stay on top of, and making sure that when we come in, we are brave enough to take on those options when they arise. It doesn’t have to be pretty, we got to keep grinding and finding a way,” he added.
Despite missing out on some of their key players, the Indians bounced back from the Adelaide horror and won the second Test by 8 wickets. Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane led the side so brilliantly that even Umesh Yadav not bowling in the second innings didn’t affect India’s course of victory.
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Now, both teams gear up to square off against each other in Sydney.
Meanwhile on Friday, the BCCI confirmed that Umesh has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests after suffering an injury in Melbourne. Left arm pacer T Natarajan has replaced him in the squad.
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