Gavaskar upset with India bowlers as Australia gain edge on Day 1 of pink-ball Test: 'This is what happens when...'
Sunil Gavaskar wasn't too happy with how the Indian bowlers used the pink ball during the first day of the Adelaide Test.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has voiced his disappointment over India's failure to capitalise on the pink ball during the opening day of the second Test against Australia in Adelaide. After India were dismissed for a modest 180 runs, Australia ended the day comfortably placed at 86/1, with Mitchell Starc's brilliant six-wicket haul ripping through the Indian batting line-up.
Gavaskar, speaking on Star Sports, highlighted the Indian bowlers' inability to make the most of the conditions, emphasising that they needed to challenge the Australian batters more effectively.
“They have to make the batters play as much as they can. And this is what happens when you make the batters play as much as you can," Gavaskar said, pointing out that the Indian bowlers missed a key opportunity to use the pink ball to their advantage. He went on to explain how Indian pacers could have set up Australian batters by varying their lengths and lines, much like Jasprit Bumrah had done successfully in the Perth Test.
"You can set them up by bowling a couple of deliveries outside and then get the ball to move back in, as it did to Nathan McSweeney in the Perth Test, or to Labuschagne in the Perth Test, like what Bumrah did. The Indian bowlers have not really used the pink ball as well as they should have," Gavaskar added, suggesting that better planning and execution could have yielded more success on the opening day.
Bumrah took the only wicket in the Australian innings in the second Test so far, dismissing Usman Khawaja for 13.
Hayden praises Starc
Meanwhile, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden was full of praise for Mitchell Starc’s performance, calling him a “magician with the pink ball.” Starc’s six-wicket haul for 48 runs left India reeling, as the Australian pacer turned the tide with his skillful use of the pink ball.
Hayden explained how Starc’s "scrambled seam delivery" confounded the Indian batters, and praised his ability to swing the ball aggressively even in the 40th over of the innings.
"He has that scrambled seam delivery that goes across the right-hander, but when he does have that ability - which he did - I must admit I was a little surprised. I've never really seen the pink ball swing into the sort of 40th over and so aggressively swing as well," Hayden remarked.
Starc's brilliance with the pink ball changed the course of the game, as he took advantage of the momentum to dismiss key Indian wickets. "By that stage, he used a really important word, and it's a bit of an underrated word as well, and that's 'momentum'. It was all in favour of India," Hayden continued. “A difficult position to come back from in life and sport is those opportunities to wrestle back momentum, and Mitchell Starc did that in only the way he can - when the lights are like the way they are and with that beautiful-coloured ball in his hand. He's just a magician with the pink ball.”
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