After the end of the 1st session on Day of the third Test match at the SCG, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja has reckoned that India’s chance for making a comeback has gone as Ajinkya Rahane’s team was defensive in their approach.
“India were defensive to start with and Australia were smart enough to realise that and they played it totally differently. You saw that last evening, where they came back attacking and put you on the back foot. This morning you had an answer for that, somebody like Bumrah, Ashwin or Saini whenever they came on to bowl, your fields were, you were probably looking to restrict them. think Australia are happy at this stage with ball not that hard and not doing much. The chance India had to come back in this match has probably gone away,” Ajay Jadeja told on Sony Networks after the end of 1st session on Day 4.
Pacer Navdeep Saini took 2 wickets in the first session but Australia extended their overnight lead to a healthy 276 when the teams went for lunch. Steve Smith was unbeaten on 58 and was batting with a well set Cameron Green. Earlier, Marnus Labuschagne scored 73 but only after being dropped by Hanuma Vihari on the 2nd ball of the day. The right-hander was batting on 47 when he was dropped.
Australia have enough runs to defend: Glenn McGrath
“Probably, you want a full day and a session this afternoon. I think runs are hard to come by and you have got enough runs to defend. At least three-and-a-half sessions.”
Notably, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were injured yesterday and their availability for the rest of the match is still not confirmed.
