Australian coach Justin Langer said that the Indian bowling has been at their strangth in the last couple of years but they might face some trouble in the next Test match against Australia which will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“India, their greatest strength over the last couple of series, has been their (bowling’s) discipline, they have been so disciplined,” said Langer in his media brief.
Langer said that the Kangaroos have revisited their strategies, especially against spin bowling. Off-Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has dismissed the batting havoc, Steven Smith, for two times till now in the series. Ashwin has also picked 10 wickets in the first two Test matches.
Australians have failed in reaching the mark of 200 in two of the three innings they batted so far in the series. They also faced criticism all-round with ex-captain Ricky Ponting on the top of the criticizers list.
“Any time you are not looking at over 200, you are looking at ways to improve. I think we’ve got to look at our strategies against Indian spinners. Ashwin is bowling very well. We have worked very hard on that in the last week or so. Obviously (Jasprit) Bumrah is a world-class bowler. (Mohammed) Siraj is a very, very skillful bowler. I thought he bowled very well in his first Test and debut,” said Langer.
“I think if you look at the last two Test matches, they have been reasonably low scoring games. I loved the last two Tests because the wickets have provided even contest between bat and ball. And you have to work a bit harder. I think there is the factor of wickets we have played on. There has certainly been some seam movement, there has been swing on those two wickets,” Langer said.
“India have taken a straighter line to a couple of batters and set the fields accordingly. Let us not discount R Ashwin. He has played a lot of cricket. They, Bumrah and Ashwin are great bowlers and tough to score against. Credit to India, the way they have planned and been disciplined,” he added.
The Indian team has won 3 matches out of the last 6 they played on Australian soil. The four-match series is at 1-1 and the third Test will start from January 7 in Melbourne.
