After losing the first Test of four-match home Test series against India at Adelaide, Australian head coach Justin Langer has now shifted his entire focus to the second Test at the new Perth Stadium (Optus Stadium), starting on this Friday (December 14).
The Optus Stadium is going to make its Test debut through the upcoming game. It has already made debut in international cricket through the ODI in this January and it is now set to move to another international format from this Friday.
While the WACA ground, the old Perth Stadium, was known one of fastest pitches in the cricket world, Australian head coach Langer is expecting some good qualities of pace and bouncy wicket in the new Perth Stadium.
Langer said on Tuesday (December 11), “I’m really fascinated and can’t wait to see what the Optus wicket brings. I went and watched a bit of the game, NSW versus WA. Certainly, some pace and bounce. We’ve (also) seen some pace and bounce in it during the one-dayers and T20 game.
“Again, it’s an unprecedented period – the first Test match on a drop-in wicket in Perth at the new stadium. Time will tell what the wicket brings. Hopefully that’s what it is traditionally at the WACA, that’s what we’ve talked about for a long time, pace and bounce. If we can get that, it’d be a great thing for Test cricket.”
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Despite the strong lower-order fights in the fourth innings of the first game at Adelaide, the hosts Australia suffered a heart-breaking defeat of 31 runs. Their top-order batsmen widely disappointed in the Adelaide Test but their lower-orders always helped them to stay in the game.
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While Langer is now providing some crucial rest to the pacers in this short period, who played the impressive role during the Adelaide Test, he also claimed that the batsmen need to play better and longer.
Langer said on that, “They [the pacemen] have had a couple days off, would’ve had three or four days off, India are in exactly the same situation. It’s probably the one area where we just felt we’re not wearing down the Indian bowlers enough in this Test match. It’s going to be hot on Friday, it’ll be an important toss I would imagine, and there’s always working out that balance, but hopefully on a wicket conducive to a bit of swing and seam, the bowlers will get the job done.”
“On the one hand the youth helps us because they’ll have the physical energy, but it’s mentally very taxing playing Test cricket. I said that to Marcus Harris this morning, ‘mate when you play 100 Test matches, Test cricket’s really tiring’. It’s something we’re aware of, we’ll work it out over the next few days, training will probably look a lot different at this time of the year than perhaps we’ve seen in the past.”
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Langer admitted that India outplayed them in the Adelaide Test through their more patience but he is happy with the improving performances of the Australian cricket team.
The Aussie head coach said, “India outplayed us, there’s no doubt about that, there was no point in the game where I felt we were on top of India, to their great credit they were more patient than us, they bowled really well. We got close, which shows great fighting spirit. In two out of the last three Tests, the team’s shown great fighting spirit to draw in Dubai and we just lost yesterday. We’re getting closer with this young team.”
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Talking about their unusual slow batting performances in the Adelaide Test, Langer claimed it was not in their plan but India bowled well in the tough batting pitch.
Langer said, “The wicket was really tough to score on. If you look at India, Virat Kohli got 30 in 120 balls or something, that’s telling you something. There was no plan to bat slowly, just how the game went. India bowled well, we bowled equally as well in the first innings and it was hard to bat on with the slow outfield.”
