Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden was baffled on Monday by captain Pat Cummins and head coach Andrew McDonald's decision not to declare their first innings in the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and opt to continue batting on Day 3. Hayden feared Australia might just have handed India an advantage amid the rain in Brisbane.
Australia went to stumps on Day 2 at 405 for seven after Travis Head (152) and Steve Smith (101) helped the hosts revive following a quick early blow from Jasprit Bumrah. They continued their innings on the third morning, before being bowled out for 445.
Cummins' decision not to declare the innings on the second evening or the third morning surprised many experts, given that Day 1 of the Gabba Test witnessed only 13.2 overs of action owing to rain, which reduced the match to a four-day game. Rain caused a delay four times in the first two sessions on Monday, and there is bad weather forecast for the next two days as well.
'It played into India's hands'
Speaking on Channel 7, Hayden labelled Cummins' captaincy "conservative" and feared he was playing into India's hands. The tourists only need a drawn series to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Moreover, a drawn Test could still keep India in the race to make the WTC final, while a loss could virtually eliminate them.
"I sense that playing with the weather is like playing with fire," Hayden said. "You've just got to focus on winning the Test match from an Australian point of view. India may be focusing at this point now on just trying to hold in this Test match. It begs the question, what would India want? I sense that this is maybe playing into their hands considering there is going to be some weather over the next few days.
{{/usCountry}}"I sense that playing with the weather is like playing with fire," Hayden said. "You've just got to focus on winning the Test match from an Australian point of view. India may be focusing at this point now on just trying to hold in this Test match. It begs the question, what would India want? I sense that this is maybe playing into their hands considering there is going to be some weather over the next few days.
{{/usCountry}}"Less likely for Australia to get the ball and take 20 wickets, the better for them. But I'm not surprised, this side over the years has been relatively conservative and it has perhaps stung from the days of Steve Waugh where it just seemed like the follow-on was something you naturally didn't take.
"And that is not saying there is no confidence, there is plenty of confidence in this team. They are champions, Australia. World champions. World champions in fact against this very side. So I just think at this stage, probably just annoying India as much as anything."
Australian pacers struck early in India's first innings as the top order was rattled for just 22 runs. Mitchell Starc dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, while Josh Hazlewood removed Virat Kohli to reduce Inia to 3 down.