India have struggled with the bat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They have been bowled out under 200 in three out of four innings. In each of those three sub-200 outings, they have failed to bat more than 50 overs.
During the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, India had just one partnership in excess of 50. That was on the first morning. Since then, India just were unable to stitch any substantial partnerships. Apart from the second innings in Perth, the Indian batters have constantly been under the pump.
It is something that Harbhajan Singh pointed out. The former India off-spinner admitted that the ‘Men in Blue’ need big partnerships and the lack of runs on the board cost India the game in Adelaide.
“One area where India would like to improve is the partnership. We need to have big partnerships. We didn’t get a good partnership in Adelaide because of which we did not have enough runs on the board. If we have 300-350 on the board then our bowlers have the capability to bowl them out,” Harbhajan Singh was quoted saying on Star Sports after India’s loss.
Matthew Hayden slams India batters
Matthew Hayden echoed Harbhajan’s comments and criticized the Indian batters. The former Australia left-hander said that India should’ve batted longer and it was not a pitch to be bowled out cheaply.
“Team India just did not bat well enough, there’s no doubt. Even though this was a difficult track to bat on, they should not have been bowled out in under a day and a half. So that needs to be rectified for the Brisbane Test match,” Matthew Hayden told Star Sports.
Hayden feels that the bowling was good but it was Travis Head’s splendid knock of 140 that took the game away from India. The South Australia left-hander continues to plunder India across formats, having hit hundreds in the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the ODI World Cup 2023 final.
“Bowling, I thought, on average was pretty good. When you thought of the freakish innings that Travis Head played, 140 off 141 deliveries that was just something else. Sometimes, batsmen have their way,” Hayden added.
India have a short turnaround before the third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. It was the big partnerships in the second innings in Perth that setup India’s win. Hence, the Rohit Sharma-led side will desperately need to turn things around with the bat. The onus will be on the experienced players to stand up and deliver.
