India bowling coach Morne Morkel expressed disappointment with the team’s inability to execute their bowling plans effectively, leading to a costly Day 2 in the ongoing Brisbane Test against Australia on December 15. Despite a stellar five-wicket haul from Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian bowling unit struggled to contain Australia’s batters, specifically Travis Head and Steve Smith, allowing the hosts to seize control of the match.
Bumrah delivered a sensational performance early in the day, dismissing openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeny in quick succession. Nitish Kumar Reddy followed with a crucial wicket, sending Marnus Labuschagne back to the pavilion. However, the momentum shifted as Travis Head, in imperious form, hammered 151 off 160 balls, while Steve Smith scored a composed 101, building a monumental 241-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Speaking at the post-day press conference, Morkel admitted that India’s bowling unit did not carry out the strategy well, which resulted in them leaking some big crucial runs.
AUS vs IND, 3rd Test Day 2: Highlights
“He (Travis Head) is in pretty good form, playing back-to-back innings, we can only give a lot of credit. For us with the ball, if you look at it from overs 50 to 80, it is where we sort of fall short, leaking a little bit, so that is one area we need to get better at. Steve Smith, we know, is a guy that can bat back and score runs, and they put a partnership and put us under pressure with a softer ball,” Morkel said.
Morkel also believes that India’s call to bowl first after winning the toss, with the weather forecast predicting two days of rain, did not work out exactly how they wanted to.
“Rain was forecast for a couple of days. We thought if we got the ball in the right areas, we could take a few wickets. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way… This surface also takes some time to get used to bowling on. You don’t want to be too short or too floaty. Good-length balls were going over the stumps,” he added.
Morkel also highlighted the challenges posed by the other bowlers, particularly Akash Deep and Siraj, were not able to give the proper support to Bumrah.
“Akash (Deep) did well, bowled his heart out, same for (Mohammed) Siraj, he cramped early on in the day, so for him to still run in today and bowl, was great. (Jasprit) Bumrah is the number one bowler in the world and you need somebody to back him up but honestly, I can’t fault the effort of the other seamers,” he added.
One man army Burmah vs Australia
As the day progressed, it was once again Bumrah who brought India back into the game, breaking the partnership by dismissing both Head and Smith in successive overs. He then dismissed Mitchell Marsh to complete his five-wicket haul, taking his tally to 17 wickets in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, the damage was already done, with Australia posting a daunting total of 405. Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with the lone wicket of Labuschagne, and Mohammed Siraj dismissed Australia skipper Pat Cummins late in the day, but their efforts came too late to salvage the situation.
As Australia finished 405/7 at stumps on Day 2, pressure is mounting on India’s bowlers and batters alike. With limited contributions from the bowling unit outside Bumrah, a big challenge is looming for the India batters to stage some kind of a comeback in this game on Day 3.
