Matthew Hayden has criticized Australian captain Pat Cummins for not declaring early in the ongoing Gabba test against Australia. Hayden’s comments come after the hosts decided to continue batting on the morning of Day 3 (Monday), with a bad weather forecast for the remaining duration of the game.
Earlier, the first day of the fixture saw Australia scoring 28 for no loss in less than 14 overs, as the persistent rain forced the entire day to be suspended. On the second day, the Cummins-led side were off to a bad start, however, the pair of Steve Smith and Travis Head were impactful with their positive intent to steer the hosts on a comfortable note.
Head (152) continued his strong showing, while Smith (101) broke his 18-month long hiatus by reaching the three-figure mark. Their 241-run stand helped the hosts to eventually end Day 3 on 405/7.
During the first session of Day 3, Hayden felt Cummins was quite conservative with his approach, and should have come up with a winning attitude to declare early and bowl out India twice. The former Australian batter thinks Cummins’ move benefited India, as they are now on the frontfoot to save the test match and their pursuit to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
“I sense that playing with the weather is like playing with fire,” Hayden said on Channel 7. “You’ve just got to focus on winning the Test match from an Australian point of view. India may be focusing at this point now on just trying to hold in this Test match. It begs the question, what would India want? I sense that this is maybe playing into their hands considering there is going to be some weather over the next few days.”
Further, Hayden stated that Australia’s approach in the last few years has been the same, and they have avoided to enforce a follow-on on the opposition teams.
India’s top-order fails yet again before rain stops play on Day 3
Wicket-keeper Alex Carey continued his positive intent on the morning of Day 3. He slammed 70 off 86, with seven fours and two sixes, and was the last wicket to fall for Australia, as they posted a staggering total of 445. Bumrah emerged as the pick of the bowlers for the hosts with six scalps.
Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a boundary off the first ball off Mitchell Starc, before he was dismissed by the left-arm pacer in the following delivery. Soon, Shubman Gill (1) became another victim of Starc in the third over. Virat Kohli continued his disappointing form and was dismissed for 3 off 16 by Josh Hazlewood.
Captain Pat Cummins induced an edge of Pant (9) to reduce Australia to 44/4. Opener KL Rahul (33*) and Rohit Sharma (0*) remained unbeaten as India were at 51/4, before the rain stopped play. It will be interesting to see if the experienced pair will be able to dig out the visitors from the hole on the fourth day.
FAQs
What is the track record of Australia in Gabba?
42 wins in 66 Tests
Can India still qualify for WTC final?
Yes, if they win the series with a margin of 3-1.
