"Ravichandran Ashwin would be very disappointed with the way he bowled" - Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik believes that senior Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin erred by bowling a lot of full length deliveries in the final session of Day 2 of the ongoing second Test against Australia on Saturday.

He opined that Ashwin himself would be disappointed with his performance. Karthik suggested that the seasoned spinner should consider changing his lengths on Day 3.

The keeper-batter mentioned that while Ashwin would have backed himself to get the better of Travis Head, the left-hander was able to counter the off-spinner well. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said:

"I think Ravichandran Ashwin would be very disappointed with the way he bowled this evening. I say that because he bowled very full. I think somewhere he thought that he knew he could get Travis Head out. But Head, in many ways, came out all guns firing.

"He stepped out and made use of the crease. Ashwin is somebody who can definitely cause trouble for Australia tomorrow. But the one thing he needs to do is pull back his length a little bit."

Meanwhile, Ashwin contributed with the bat earlier in the day with a crucial 37-run knock under pressure. He stitched together an important 114-run partnership with Axar Patel for the eighth wicket to bail his side out of trouble.

Lauding Axar's batting exploits, Karthik acknowledged the all-rounder's exponential growth as a batter. He stated that the player looked very confident throughout his innings and never looked unsettled. Praising the southpaw's batting exploits, he added:

"We have seen how good he is with the ball. From the time he has started his Test career, he has been phenomenal. But with the bat, in these last three Test matches, he has taken it off a notch. I don't know if the marriage has helped him, only he can answer that.

"He looked a touch above everybody else in the confidence he had in his defense and the way he mixed attack with that. He looked very comfortable throughout his innings. Even if the ball beat him, we could see a calm demeanour. That's not something you associate with a No.9 batter."

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Notably, Axar was India's top scorer in their first innings. He mustered 74 runs off 114 balls and helped his team reach a total of 262.

"We all expected two to three wickets in that 13-over spell" - Dinesh Karthik impressed by Australia's batting effort

Dinesh Karthik further added that India were expected to pick up at least two to three wickets in the 12 overs they bowled in the final session of the day.

He noted that Australia didn't let the Indian bowlers dominate the proceedings and instead scored runs at a good pace. The 37-year-old pointed out that Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne batted with a lot of positive intent, which was the ideal approach.

Karthik added:

"We all expected two to three wickets in that 12-over spell, but just one fell, and that too to an innocuous shot. Travis Head batted beautifully and showed a lot of intent, as did Marnus Labuschagne. They played some shots and scored at five runs per over, and that was really good to watch."

Stumps on Day 2⃣ of the second #INDvAUS Test!

1️⃣ wicket for @imjadeja as Australia reach 61/1 at the end of day's play.

A crucial day coming up tomorrow 👌🏻

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDvAUS-2023-2……

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Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja provided Rohit Sharma and Co. with a big breakthrough, dismissing opener Usman Khawaja early on. However, Head and Labuschagne steadied the ship for Australia with an unconquered 38-run stand.

The visitors finished at 61-1 at stumps on Day 2, accumulating a crucial lead of 62 runs.