Aussie bowling unit under fire after revelations of shocking statistic
Australia’s fast bowlers are in danger of going through an entire Test series without a single lbw dismissal in a damning reflection of their misdirected plans.
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Australia’s fast bowlers are in danger of going through an entire Test series without a single lbw dismissal in a damning reflection of their misdirected plans.
Spinner Nathan Lyon trapped Ajinkya Rahane in front at the MCG for Australia’s sole lbw of the series, while India have had eight – including six from the incomparable Jasprit Bumrah.
Shane Warne spotlighted this statistic on Cricket 360 and said it was either an indication of flawed bowling plans or an inability to execute correct ones because of the staggering number of balls not aimed at hitting the stumps.
Warne has been an almost lone critic of the bowlers this summer, but after Thursday’s flat performance a host of leading Test greats backed up the spin great’s assertion that the much-vaunted attack has lost their venom.
Indian ‘Wall’ Cheteshwar Pujara dropped anchor at the SCG to score his third century of the summer and drive a weary Australia into the dirt.
Already this summer, Pujara centuries have translated to Indian victories and at stumps on day one it was one way traffic again as the second-coming of Rahul Dravid powered the visitors to the powerful position of 4-303 – bringing a historic series victory to within touching distance.
Warne’s criticisms of Mitchell Starc (1-75) and Josh Hazlewood (2-51) have been flatly dismissed by some, but yesterday the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater and Glenn McGrath joined him in applying the blow torch to the one department of the Australian set-up that had been until now been deemed beyond criticism.
One of Australia’s most successful wicket-takers Brett Lee declared in Fox Cricket commentary that Pat Cummins should open the bowling in Hazlewood’s place, while former Test captain Ricky Ponting slammed the entire attack for being too one-dimensional with their plans.
Already this summer, Pujara centuries have translated to Indian victories and at stumps on day one it was one-way traffic again as the second-coming of Rahul Dravid powered the visitors to the powerful position of 4-303 – bringing a historic series victory to within touching distance.
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Former Test quicks Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming also pleaded for more variety from the pace titans, as Pujara’s unbeaten 250-ball stand and rookie opener Mayank Agarwal (77) looked ominously comfortable against an attack that had been widely touted as the best in world cricket.
Warne continued to turn the heat up on Starc who he lashed for not preparing properly for the series, but the notable development on Thursday was that other leading voices threw their sizeable weight behind his adamant view the pacemen have under-delivered.
“They have all bowled a bit too much the same,” Ponting said on Channel 7. “The Indian attack has been slightly different with the way they have bowled (in the series).
“Even this morning, they’ve all done it exactly the same. Let’s have something a bit different.
“Why do we always talk about wanting to play India in Brisbane and Perth when they come to Australia? Because they don’t like the short ball.
“They don’t like the pace and bounce. We’ve only seen one short ball all morning.”
The class shown by Pujara has put all the focus on Marnus Labuschagne who will on Friday try and play the same critical No.3 role for Australia.
Ponting and Michael Slater lamented after the first 10 overs that Australia had persisted with the same lines that Pujara had calmly negotiated all summer, lamenting how long it took them to hit the Indian star with some short-pitched bowling.
“Get them jumping. Just something different,” said Slater on 7.
Just as the demoralising partnership of Pujara and Virat Kohli that destroyed Australia at the MCG last week started to take a stranglehold on the Test, Hazlewood struck to strangle Kohli down the leg-side.
A vicious Starc short ball later ripped up and caught the glove of a reeling Ajinkya Rahane to give Australia a sniff leading into stumps, only for Hanuma Vihari (39 not out) to come in and steady the ship for the Indians.
But Warne was again left largely unimpressed with Starc’s (1-75) performance.
“He’s a fantastic bowler. My criticism is about his preparation,” said Warne on Fox Cricket.
“He opted to have rests before Adelaide — they were all given the option, and he opted for the rest. I don’t think he’s been anywhere near the Mitchell Starc we’d hoped.
“I don’t think that’s good enough.
“He’s taken a lot of time off rather than bowling, bowling, bowling.”
Lee agreed with Warne and said fast bowlers needed to bowl through niggles.
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