Team India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said the Indian bowlers could not control the run flow due to the old ball and Australian centurions Travis Head and Steve Smith could not take advantage of the opportunities.
At stumps, Australia made 405-7, with Head scoring a characteristically superb 152 and Smith a more cautious 101 in a 241-run partnership that revived the hosts after a shaky start on Sunday.
Travis Head is in great form. You have to give him credit,” Morkel told reporters.
“Between the 50 and 80 overs, our bowling is leaking runs, which is an area we need to work on.
“They put us under pressure as the ball ages. We need to execute our game plan better,” he said.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia’s Usman Khawaja during the second day of the third cricket test between India and Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane. (AP)
Jasprit Bumrah, currently the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, took 5 for 72 and tormented Australia’s top-order batsmen, providing plenty of support to the bowlers under cloudy skies on Sunday morning at the Gabba pitch.
“Akash Deep bowled really well today. Siraj suffered from cramps but later executed the bouncer plan. Bumrah is the No. 1 bowler in the world,” Morkel said.
“Jadeja has not had much game time before. He has a lot of experience. We wanted a left-arm spinner, but unfortunately, today was not his day,” he said.
On the second day of the third cricket test between India and Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Mohammad Siraj of India failed to take the wicket of Steve Smith of Australia. (AP)
Head’s ninth Test century, 13 fours off 115 balls, continued his rich run of form against India, which includes a century in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, the ODI World Cup final in India in 2023 and turning the match. He scored 140 runs in his hometown Adelaide in the second Test last week.
“Our plan for Travis in this game was to bowl over the wicket and straight. He handled our around-the-stumps plan well in the earlier games,” Morkel said.
“This surface also takes some time to get used to bowling. You don’t want to be too short or too floaty. Good length balls were going over the stumps,” he said.
Regarding the decision to bowl first, Morkel said, ‘Rain was forecast for a few days. We thought if we get the ball in the right areas, we can take some wickets. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
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