New Delhi: The fourth Test match between India and Australia started in Ahmedabad from Thursday. Although the spinners have been getting help from the pitch so far in the Border-Gavaskar series, the spinners were seen struggling a bit in the fourth Test. By the end of the first day’s play, Australia has scored 255 runs losing 4 wickets. Usman Khawaja is unbeaten on 104 and Cameron Green on 49. Australia is currently looking in a strong position. Meanwhile, questions are also being raised on rotating the fast bowlers in the series.
Coach Paras Mhambre defended
However, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has defended the decision. He insisted that the decision would benefit the fast bowlers. Shami is back in the playing XI for the fourth and final Test, while Siraj has been rested. Mhambre said- You also have to look at the individual workload of each bowler. I think the way we saw Shami, we needed to give him that break and this was an opportunity for us to get a player like Siraj or Umesh as well. We need to look into that too.
Stumps on Day 1️⃣ of the Fourth #INDvAUS Test!
2️⃣ wickets in the final session as Australia finish the opening day with 255/4 on board.
We will be back tomorrow as another action-packed day awaits💪
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/8DPghkx0DE#INDvAUS | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/hdRZrif7HC
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 9, 2023
You have to rotate the bowlers sometimes and it is important for the players as well. The coach further said that ideally you want a bowler to play two or three games in a row, but that cannot happen in these conditions. Umesh was looking in great touch in Indore. He took three quick wickets, but there are days when you don’t get the momentum going. Mhambrey said in defence: “The first spell he bowled to Travis Head may not have gone well, but later he hit the right areas and was effective for us.”
We plundered runs in the last 10 overs
Mhambrey termed the Motera track as a batting belt but expected the spinners to get some help from the track from the third day onwards. Mhambrey said, “This pitch looks like a batting track. We expected it after seeing the wicket yesterday. Mhambre further said – We looted extra runs in the last 10 overs. Although he batted well in the first season. Initially runs were leaked. The second session was good for us, but as the ball got older, it became difficult to score runs. And the last session continued to be difficult. “We gave away 56 runs in the last 10 overs. I felt the game had moved away from us a bit. At the end of the day, if it was 220 for 4, it would have been good for us. Yes, we gave away a few more runs last season.”
He further said- “I think as the game progresses, there will be a little turn. You saw that some balls turned, but it was nothing compared to what you saw earlier. You might see a bit of turn from the third day onwards, spinners will get a bit of help.”
Rohit Sharma’s decision was defended
Shouldn’t India have delayed getting the second new ball? In response to this question, Mhambrey said – The new ball came off the bat better and made it easier to score runs, but Rohit must have thought that nothing was happening on that wicket, so at least the new ball was good with the spinners. Will go in some way. “Had we taken a few wickets, we would have been talking differently. That’s okay and it will happen.” He praised Usman Khawaja and said, “We tried everything possible on this track. Sometimes you have to give credit to the batsman as well.”
