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Rohit Sharma-led Team India had a forgettable day out in the middle on Day 1 of the crucial pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. However, the side came out on top at the toss in the day-night Test, opting to bat first, they were bundled out at the score of 180, courtesy a six-for from Mitchell Starc.
Apart from KL Rahul (37), Shubman Gill (31), Rishabh Pant (21), Nitish Kumar Reddy (42) and R Ashwin (22), none of the batters could get to the double-digit score, including skipper Rohit Sharma (3 off 23) and Virat Kohli (7 off 8). Despite a poor show with the bat, the Indian bowlers too did not have a memorable outing as only Jasprit Bumrah got among the wicket, dismissing Usman Khawaja (13).
Sunil Gavaskar shares BIG advice for Team India ahead of Day 2 of pink-ball Test
Seeing their performance, former India cricketer and legend Sunil Gavaskar shared a piece of advice for the visitors. He also agreed that the Men in Blue did not use the pink-ball properly like the Aussies did. “They have to make the batters play as much as they can. And this what happens when you make the batters play as much as you can,” Sunil Gavaskar said while speaking on Star Sports.
“You can set them up by bowling a couple of deliveries outside and then get the ball move back in, as it did to Nathan McSweeney in the Perth Test, or to Labuschagne in the Perth Test, like what Bumrah did. The Indian bowlers have not really used the pink ball as well as they should have,” he added.
However, Nathan McSweeney’s stay in the middle did not last longer as Jasprit Bumrah cleaned him up with Rishabh Pant completing an easy catch behind the stumps early on Day 2 of the Adelaide Test. With this, for the third time in as many innings, he got down against Jasprit Bumrah, just scoring 39 runs off 109 deliveries.
