Andrew McDonald responds as Australia under fire v India after horror day in Perth
Australia have slumped to a 218-run deficit after day two of the first Test against India, and their efforts have been put under the microscope.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald downplayed the absence of his key lieutenant after a nightmare day in which the Aussies were accused of “going through the motions.”
The side’s slumping and under-fire batters will need to arrest longstanding troubles in run chases to rescue a Test that has careered away from the home team after India’s opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul batted uninterrupted for two sessions on Saturday.
A Perth Stadium pitch that had proved nigh on impossible for batters on Friday appeared to have flattened out completely by late on Saturday, with the Aussies at risk of being driven into oblivion in forecast 33 degree heat on Sunday.
Having taken a 46-run lead into their second innings, the tourists withstood the early nagging of Australia’s quicks before ramming home their advantage in the final hour of the day.
India was 0-172 in its second innings at stumps, leading by 218, with Jaiswal on 90 and Rahul on 62.
A major chance went begging when Usman Khawaja — looking every bit a man soon to turn 38 — couldn’t grasp a low catch at first slip off Mitchell Starc to remove Jaiswal for 51.
The rising star upped the ante from there as the Aussies toiled without reward.
Their on-field demeanour came into question though, with former Test opener Greg Blewett saying on Channel 7 that the Aussies had not acted with enough urgency.
“That hour leading into tea I thought they looked like they were going through the motions, it’s unacceptable really. It’s day two of an important series,” Blewett said.
Asked about Blewett’s comments, McDonald said he “didn’t notice the body language at all.”
McDonald also brushed off the fact the team is without bowling coach Daniel Vettori who has headed to Saudi Arabia for the Indian Premier League auction in his guise as coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“He’s still connected with us…There’s lot of pre-planning, prep work gone in,“ McDonald said.
While 10th-wicket pair Starc and Josh Hazlewood frustrated the tourists for more than 80 minutes on Saturday to ensure the Aussies crept into triple figures, the Aussie quicks could not break through with the new ball on Saturday afternoon.
Starc predicted on Friday night that the Perth pitch would only become trickier for batting but the fact he and Hazlewood withstood India’s advances for so long spelled trouble for the Aussie bowlers.
So it proved, with Jaiswal - putting a first innings duck behind him - and Rahul combining to tame the Aussie attack.
“The surface looked considerably drier today,” McDonald said.
“We thought there may have been a little bit more there. We were a little bit surprised, there wasn’t as much seam movement or swing.”
Already battling, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will have to find form in a domain where they have both historically struggled.
For all his extraordinary feats, Smith has never made a century in a Test run chase, averaging 33.26 in the fourth innings. Neither has Labuschagne, who averages 29.77.
The pair made a golden duck and two respectively on Friday, heaping pressure on the pair who at various stages have both topped the ICC’s Test batting rankings.
Australia has pulled off two outstanding Test run chases in the past 18 months, successfully chasing 281 and 279 in Birmingham and Christchurch respectively.
Khawaja’s century at Edgbaston in the 2023 Ashes series opener is the only fourth innings Test ton from any of the Aussie XI playing in this match, although Alex Carey’s unbeaten 98 was the foundation of the victory at Hagley Oval in Australia’s most recently completed Test more than eight months ago.
Having resumed at 7-67 on Saturday, the Aussies lost Carey in the second over of the day after he edged Jasprit Bumrah’s first delivery of the day.
It meant the stand-in Indian skipper secured the 11th five-wicket haul of his Test career, eventually finishing with 5-30.
Nathan Lyon fell for five after gloving a Harshit Rana short ball, with Australia still four runs short of equalling its lowest ever home Test total against India.
Hazlewood and Starc averted that ignominy, putting on 25 before Starc skied a short one on 26 to hand Rana his third wicket on debut.
Wickets had tumbled freely on day one but several Indian edges fell short of the cordon on Saturday.
Mitch Marsh, who picked up two scalps on Friday, was already showing signs of wear just two days into a series in which his bowling responsibility is greater in the absence of Cameron Green.
“As he came down through his follow-on, he just looked like he was on ice a little bit,” Aussie great Matthew Hayden said on Channel 7 following a Marsh delivery.
“Just that workload for Mitch Marsh will be an issue as the summer wears on. It just doesn’t look like he pulled up well there. I do hope everything is all right.”
Originally published as Andrew McDonald responds as Australia under fire v India after horror day in Perth
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