"We needed to put our heads down a lot better" - Ian Healy on Australia's meltdown on day three in Delhi
Former Australian keeper-batter Ian Healy reflected on Australia's performance on the third day of their test against India, saying that Pat Cummins and his men didn't play with a harder edge in Delhi. The 59-year-old reckoned that Australia needed to settle themselves in the first session, as the ball did a lot more then.
Australia entered day three of the Delhi Test with a slight upper hand as they led by 62 runs. However, they ended up losing nine wickets in the first session, with Ravindra Jadeja taking seven. India chased the target of 115 with six wickets to spare.
Speaking to 1170 SEN Breakfast, Healy stated that the first session had to be all about survival before cashing in on the second after getting settled, saying:
"There wasn’t the hard edge in the first session that was required. I think we probably thought Travis Head would keep going, it seemed easy the previous night, but the first session of each of the three days was really difficult."
He added:
"That’s where the ball was doing its most. I think we needed to put our heads down a lot better and come up with a way to survive and stay at the crease in that first session because the second session in the first two days were much more settled. Whether that’s moisture coming out of the pitch from an early start, it started at 9:30am every day, it was harder in the first session."
The Aussie batters copped plenty of criticism from the likes of Allan Border, Matthew Hayden, and Michael Clarke for playing the sweep shot on a pitch that kept low. Four Aussie players fell to the sweep shot in the second innings.
"I don’t envisage too many changes" - Ian Healy
Healy felt Australia wouldn't make too many changes despite being 0-2 down. The Queenslander believes Cameron Green should be an obvious swap for Matt Renshaw should the former have fully recovered from his finger injury. He said:
"My hope is that Cam Green comes into that spot and is able to bowl. We’ve had this squad in disarray due to those unfortunate injuries. I don’t envisage too many changes. I wouldn’t want too many changes. When you’re getting picked for Australia, you’re getting told ‘we love you’ and so you can’t drop them after one Test."
The third Test of the series between India and Australia starts in Indore on March 1, 2023.