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‘80 balls par 80 chalte hain, but...’ Ex Pak captain on Steve Smith’s ‘slow’ innings
IND vs AUS: He further went on to say that since the pitch in Bengaluru is an absolute belter and since the ball comes on perfectly under lights, Australia had to score in excess of 300.
Steve Smith was in imperious form in Bengaluru and he notched up his 9th ODI century and played the perfect sheet-anchor’s role. However, he got out at the wrong time and this allowed the Indian bowlers to restrict Australia in the latter stages of the first innings. He got out for 131 off 132 balls and as per former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif, this innings was the reason why Australia could not breach 300.
“One has to give credit to Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah for their efforts in the death overs. 80 balls for 80 chalte hain, but when you score 131, you need to do it in 100 or 105 balls. Smith’s inability to accelerate and his slow partnership forced Australia to promote Mitchell Starc as a pinch hitter,” Rashid Latif said in his YouTube channel.
He further went on to say that since the pitch in Bengaluru is an absolute belter and since the ball comes on perfectly under lights, Australia had to score in excess of 300.
“The wicket started to turn, and maybe it started to slide a bit more later on. We felt if we were able to post 300 or 310, that would have brought our spinners into play. We probably lost just one wicket (too many). Just that momentum kept getting stalled every now and then. To play against the best in the world in these conditions is a great learning experience,” Australian captain Aaron Finch said after the match.
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“(On the spinners) I think the big difference was the line (Agar) bowled and the length. If the batsman makes a mistake, you are out. Everyone played well. It was a great series to be a part of. (On bringing on part-timers) You play world-class players up front, you will go for a few runs. We wanted to get some wickets up front. It wasn’t to be,” he further added.
