"India won the toss but they haven't won even one session after that" - Harbhajan Singh says Australia are absolutely on top in the WTC final
Harbhajan Singh has pointed out that India have been outplayed on the first two days of the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Australia posted a mammoth first-innings total of 469 after being asked to bat first at The Oval in London. Pat Cummins and Co. then reduced India to 151/5 by the close of play on Day 2 (Thursday, June 8) and are headed for a massive first-innings lead.
While reviewing the game on Star Sports, Harbhajan was asked about Australia being absolutely on top, to which he responded:
"There are no two opinions about that. They have dismissed five batters for 151 runs. We will definitely say that Australia are on top in this game. I feel the scale has been tilted towards Australia on both days. India won the toss but they haven't won even one session after that."
While acknowledging that India bounced back with the ball on the second morning, Harbhajan highlighted that it was still not their session, reasoning:
"Today morning's session was quite good for India but we cannot say that we won that because there also they scored close to 100 runs, although we did get wickets. The two days of play, Australia have dominated thus far."
Australia finished Day 1 of the WTC final at 327/3. They lost four wickets in the first session of Day 2, including centurions Travis Head and Steve Smith, but they added 95 runs in the 24 overs bowled.
"When you get lbw and bowled on this pitch, it means your length was full" - Harbhajan Singh praises Australia's bowling
Harbhajan Singh heaped praise on the Australian bowlers for bowling an immaculate line and length:
"The way they bowled, the line and length were absolutely perfect. They pitched the ball up. When you get lbw and bowled on this pitch, it means your length was full, whether you talk about (Scott) Boland, (Pat) Cummins or (Cameron) Green - whichever bowlers bowled."
While observing that Virat Kohli fell prey to a virtually unplayable delivery from Mitchell Starc, the former Indian spinner lauded Nathan Lyon for proving that bowlers of his ilk can also be effective on a green top:
"The ball Starc bowled to Virat Kohli was unplayable. Who says spinners don't have a job on a green pitch - Lyon showed that no matter how the pitch is, the bowler needs to have the might. All the bowlers Australia gave responsibility to, they gave them wickets."
All five Australian bowlers used on Day 2 of the WTC final picked up a wicket apiece. Lyon got rid of Ravindra Jadeja after the spin-bowling all-rounder and Ajinkya Rahane had stitched together a 71-run fifth-wicket partnership.