Melbourne [Australia], December 3: Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist has urged Australian batters to spend more time at the crease if they are to succeed against Indian bowlers in the upcoming pink-ball Test at Adelaide, the second match of the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as reported by Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
The Adelaide Test, scheduled to begin on December 6, will see India enter with a mental and physical advantage following their dominant 295-run victory in the first Test at Perth, where Australian batters struggled against Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling and captaincy. However, India will be mindful of the 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, where they were bowled out for just 36 runs in their lowest-ever Test score, with Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) running riot over the Indian line-up.
Gilchrist, reflecting on Australia’s troubles after Bumrah’s performance in Perth, advised the Australian batters to focus on playing defensively and “weathering the storm” during the second Test.
He highlighted Marnus Labuschagne’s attempt to bat longer in the first innings of the Perth Test, where he faced 52 balls but managed only two runs. “Marnus had the onus to do that and tried 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,” said Gilchrist, as quoted by Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
Gilchrist added that while it would be a challenge, playing longer innings could bring rewards for the Australian batters. “It will bring with it risk, for sure, but it is a risk for reward,” he concluded.
He also endorsed Sean Abbott, who has a first-class batting average of 24.55 and a century, as a potential replacement for the injured Josh Hazlewood, should the team feel vulnerable with the bat. “They did send out the SOS to him,” Gilchrist said.
The Australian squad for the second Test includes 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, and Beau Webster.
India’s squad for the second Test includes 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, and Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal.