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Following a tough outing with the ball for the Indian cricket team on day two of the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, conceding 405/7 to Australia, their bowling coach Morne Morkel was left disappointed by the overall effort from the bowlers. At the Gabba in Brisbane, Steve Smith and Travis Head scored hundreds on day two, following which Morne Morkel spoke about how the Indian bowlers didn’t use the old ball well.
Notably, the morning session of day two of the third BGT Test was quite a fruitful one with the Indian pacers utilising the newish ball well, taking three of the top order wickets, namely Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, and Marnus Labuschagne for not many runs. However, the Australian pairing of Travis Head (152 off 160) and Steve Smith (101 off 190) stitched together a 241-run stand for the fourth wicket as the ball got older, not allowing the Indian bowlers to get on top of them as the day progressed.
If you look at it from overs 50 to 80, it's where we fall short, leaking a little bit: Morne Morkel
With the second new ball after 80 overs, Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the two centurions for Australia in quick succession, while not letting dangerous Mitchell Marsh go big either. But, Alex Carey’s exceptional counter-attacking innings of 45* off 47 with five fours and one six allowed Australia to get past an above par total on the Gabba pitch, which is expected to play some tricks as the BGT Test match moves forward.
In the post-day interview to the press, Morne Morkel acknowledged the incredible batting performance from Travis Head, which is something he has made a habit of, in the ongoing five-match BGT Test series versus India. He was quoted as saying, as per Cricbuzz, “First of all, we can say he's (Travis Head) in pretty good form, guy's playing like that, in that fashion, back-to-back innings, we can only give that a lot of credit.”
Following that, the former South African cricketer detailed the lack of discipline from Indian bowlers as the ball got older, and remarked, “But I think for us with the ball, if you look at it from overs 50 to 80, even in the last game, at the moment it's where we fall short, leaking a little bit. So that's one area I think we need to get better at. I think first up with the ball this morning, we were pretty good. At three for 70, you put two on the scoreboard there and you're right back in the game.”
India will be looking to limit the damage with the ball on day three by picking the final three Australia wickets relatively cheaply before they get the chance to bat for the first time in the Test match in Brisbane.
