Veteran Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was unimpressed with India’s bowling attack plan against Travis Head, saying the bowlers failed to capitalize on the Australian batsman’s weakness with short balls.
“Head’s weakness is the short pitched delivery, which the opposition knows very well. But we only saw two-three short-pitched deliveries from him…they could have been used more effectively,” Pujara told Star Sports.
“He dominates offside, so we could have blocked his offside stroke and a 5-4 field placement instead of 6-3 (offside-onside) would have been a better move against Head,” he added.
The 36-year-old said the Indian batsman’s inexperience against the pink ball was one of the reasons for his downfall.
“The batsmen played too slow, most of them got out due to lack of experience with the pink ball. They should discuss in team meetings when to run and when to play defensively. If 2-3 wickets had fallen today, there would have been a chance to come back, but now it is very difficult,’ he said.
Australia scored 337 runs in the first innings with the help of Head’s century and Marnus Labuschen’s 64 runs. In reply, India suffered another defeat with Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi losing 5 wickets for just 105 runs.
India trail by 29 runs as Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy are now in the middle.
“Pant’s counter-attack was needed and (Scott) Boland was unsettled with his range of shots. He chose the length well, good strategy. But, he will have a big responsibility. If this partnership goes to 100 or more, India will have a chance. For is the last pair, as the lower order cannot contribute much against the pink ball,” Pujara said.