After the defeat in Perth, winning the Adelaide Test is of utmost importance to Australia as they look to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from India. With their batsmen in poor form and bowlers losing rhythm, the morale of the hosts is low. However, they are most keen to bounce back at their luckiest venue—the Adelaide Oval—where they outplayed Team India in 2020-21. The Australian batters are preparing thoroughly for the day-night Test starting December 6.
90-minute session
On Monday, around 1pm, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne — the fulcrum of Australia’s batting — underwent a gruelling net session. They practised for around 90 minutes under the watchful eye of head coach Andrew McDonald and with the assistance of a side-arm specialist.
Opening batter Khawaja was seen batting aggressively. Looking to overcome his struggles against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj with the new ball in the Perth Test, Khawaja was particularly practising against in-coming deliveries. Also, given the shorter square boundary at Adelaide, Khawaja was seen using the flick shot (towards mid-wicket) a lot off fast deliveries. He also played some straight drives.
Head, who has been consistently scoring quickly in the middle order, was also aggressive. With cuts, pulls, and straight shots, he seemed keen to keep the scoreboard ticking rapidly against all the bowlers. “Our batting unit failed in the first Test, but there is no lack of confidence. As a batting group, we know that if we get enough runs on the board, we put ourselves in a great position,” Head told reporters later.
Also Read: Mohammed Siraj: From struggles to smiles!
Smith’s errors
Smith, who made some mistakes with his orthodox stance in Perth, struggled initially. He got bowled by a few in-coming deliveries and some straighter ones too and seemed frustrated. However, he later got into the groove and was seen executing some fine pull shots.
Finally, Labuschagne was also showed a lot of intent. He has an impressive Test batting average of 48.45, but is going through some poor form. In his last five Tests, he has averaged just 13.66. However, he holds the record for the most runs scored with the pink ball — 894 in eight pink ball Tests at 63.85. He has an even better average (71.75) at this venue, making him one of the main batters for the Aussies here.
