As Australia continued their dominance into the second day at the Adelaide Oval, the difference between the two teams’ bowling under lights was seen. While India’s seamers didn’t make the batters play enough yesterday, Australian bowlers hit their straps much more accurately to pick five wickets in the final session on Day 2 as well. And, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted that they were a bit off the mark with the pink ball under lights.
“If I wind my clock to the first Test match, our lines and lengths were exceptional,” said Morkel at the press conference after the day’s play. “It was sort of the blueprint for us going into this Test series. We wanted bring the stumps into play as much as possible and I thought last night with the ball moving around a little bit, we missed that. We were slightly off the mark with finding the right sort of length and at times, we were a touch wide. Allowed the guys to leave a lot of balls. That was a learning.”
“Today, I thought we got more balls in the right area consistently and in partnerships. We bowled better but this is a young bowling group. Harshit is playing his second Test match, is going to be a big learning curve for him, playing first time in Australia. He is a guy who will learn a lot from today and get better,” he said.
Harshit Rana not only went wicketless in the 16 overs that he bowled but also gave away 86 runs, also lost his rhythm, especially during the phase when Travis Head were hitting all over the parks. Morkel, however, chose not to be critical of his rookie pace bowler and instead felt that the youngster needed to be eased in situations like this as well.
“Like I said, Test cricket is a tough, tough place. There is nowhere to hide. He is playing his second Test match, he will learn from these conversations. The biggest thing for us, for me, is to put my arms around him. Playing in front of 50000 people, (it’s not easy). He is a player with lot of potential. It’s for us to make him feel that we as a team back him, which we do. To keep having conversations on him, for him to keep on learning, ask good questions on how he can get better, going into the next Test match for his own personal growth. Days like today are helpful; they are painful but it will help you along the way,” he again shared.
“In terms of tempo, it’s still something that this team is learning for pink ball cricket because we haven’t played a lot of day-night Test matches. But it’s quick learning, as we are in a Test match now,” Morkel again said. “With the pink ball, there is always something in the wicket if you are consistent in the areas. The odd ball nips around and end of the day, having the plans and executing them for long enough is important. Australia has done that so far in the Test match. Guys who have bowled has made scoring tougher for us but having said that, the softer ball has been a bit easier for scoring runs. Then you have the night session to worry about.”
However, team India’s efforts at bouncing back like the Perth Test match were halted by Head’s pyrotechnics as he produced yet another innings of dominance against India under pressure. Morkel, however, didn’t feel that India were underprepared against him and chose to credit the Australian’s skills while batting under tough batting conditions.
“He is just a guy who is always looking to score. As a bowler, he puts you under pressure and your execution gets tested every ball. When he first came to the crease, we bowled well. We sort of felt like we could knock him over but credit to him, he fought through that phase and got himself on. From there, he put the pressure on us. With the ball, we were slow to react in going from Plan A to Plan B. Especially with ten overs left for the second new ball, we leaked a bit of runs. That’s something we need to look at and get better at, because he is a player who once he gets some momentum, he’ll put your under pressure,” he said.
“He is one of the guys going into this Test match, we spent a lot of time having conversations about Travis. He batted well in the first Test match as well. He along with Mitch (Marsh) and Alex Carey in the middle order, they take the game away from you. As a bowler, if you are on your third or fourth spells, you need to be on the money, else they will take the game away from you,” Morne Morkel concluded.
