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Australia failed t strike in India's second innings, going wicketless for two sessions © AFP
Andrew McDonald, Australia's head coach, and Harshit Rana, the debutant pacer in the Indian team, both acknowledged that the conditions had improved for batting tremendously on Day 2 of the Perth Test which saw India gain the ascendancy.
As many as 17 wickets fell on Day 1 with India being bowled out for 150 and then reducing Australia to 67/7 at Stumps. But only three wickets fell on the second day's play, all of them being Australian wickets. The hosts managed to get to 104, thanks to Mitchell Starc's vigil, before getting bowled out. India had a handy lead of 46, which they extended to 218 at Stumps with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul putting on an unbroken 172-run opening stand.
"I think the wicket has changed considerably. If you look at the seam and swing, it was down compared to yesterday (when) it was difficult work," said McDonald. "I thought KL and Jaiswal played extremely well also. You needed to ride your luck a little bit also, our guys got the balls in the right areas and there were some plays and misses as well. Anything can happen if you get some edges on that, it could be a totally different day.
"The surface looked considerably drier today, and it dried out fairly quickly. We thought there may have been a little bit more there, so if you want to say it we were a little bit surprised there wasn't as much seam movement or swing. And I think the bowlers were presenting the seam in a similar fashion to what they were yesterday so I think the conditions may have had some say in that," added McDonald.
Going by the numbers, the seam movement decreased drastically in India's second innings. From 48.8% of balls deviating off the seam significantly (0.75 degrees or more) in India's first innings, only 27.3% of balls seamed as much in their second innings. As the ball became older, even Australia's last-wicket pair kept India waiting, playing close to 20 overs for their 25-run stand.
Rana, who picked up the last two wickets to finish with 3 for 48, said: "It was better wicket today for batting. When they were batting in the morning, we were also having a little problem. But it was the same, as Jassi [Jasprit Bumrah] keeps saying, that you have to stick to those lines. If you want to show patience, then you will get the wicket from there. That was the plan."
With India still having 10 wickets in hand and a big lead, Australia have their work cut out on Day 3. But McDonald remained confident of Australia's chances of coming back in the game.
"The morale is always good, it's a pretty level team whether it's a good day or a bad day," McDonald said. "We've got some problems to solve ahead of us. There's no doubt we're clearly well behind the game at this stage, India have got the driver's seat at the moment. But that's not to say that tomorrow can't change very quickly, Test cricket ebbs and flows.
"We've all been part of a game when you've been well ahead of the game and it can twist and turn. We've got to get to work on what it looks like for us tomorrow morning. It's 20-odd overs to the second new ball. We've got to work out a way to navigate a way through a few batters before that second new ball arrives and that could be our entry point back into the game," added McDonald.
Andrew McDonald, Australia's head coach, and Harshit Rana, the debutant pacer in the Indian team, both acknowledged that the conditions had improved for batting tremendously on Day 2 of the Perth Test which saw India gain the ascendancy.
As many as 17 wickets fell on Day 1 with India being bowled out for 150 and then reducing Australia to 67/7 at Stumps. But only three wickets fell on the second day's play, all of them being Australian wickets. The hosts managed to get to 104, thanks to Mitchell Starc's vigil, before getting bowled out. India had a handy lead of 46, which they extended to 218 at Stumps with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul putting on an unbroken 172-run opening stand.
"I think the wicket has changed considerably. If you look at the seam and swing, it was down compared to yesterday (when) it was difficult work," said McDonald. "I thought KL and Jaiswal played extremely well also. You needed to ride your luck a little bit also, our guys got the balls in the right areas and there were some plays and misses as well. Anything can happen if you get some edges on that, it could be a totally different day.
"The surface looked considerably drier today, and it dried out fairly quickly. We thought there may have been a little bit more there, so if you want to say it we were a little bit surprised there wasn't as much seam movement or swing. And I think the bowlers were presenting the seam in a similar fashion to what they were yesterday so I think the conditions may have had some say in that," added McDonald.
Going by the numbers, the seam movement decreased drastically in India's second innings. From 48.8% of balls deviating off the seam significantly (0.75 degrees or more) in India's first innings, only 27.3% of balls seamed as much in their second innings. As the ball became older, even Australia's last-wicket pair kept India waiting, playing close to 20 overs for their 25-run stand.
Rana, who picked up the last two wickets to finish with 3 for 48, said: "It was better wicket today for batting. When they were batting in the morning, we were also having a little problem. But it was the same, as Jassi [Jasprit Bumrah] keeps saying, that you have to stick to those lines. If you want to show patience, then you will get the wicket from there. That was the plan."
With India still having 10 wickets in hand and a big lead, Australia have their work cut out on Day 3. But McDonald remained confident of Australia's chances of coming back in the game.
"The morale is always good, it's a pretty level team whether it's a good day or a bad day," McDonald said. "We've got some problems to solve ahead of us. There's no doubt we're clearly well behind the game at this stage, India have got the driver's seat at the moment. But that's not to say that tomorrow can't change very quickly, Test cricket ebbs and flows.
"We've all been part of a game when you've been well ahead of the game and it can twist and turn. We've got to get to work on what it looks like for us tomorrow morning. It's 20-odd overs to the second new ball. We've got to work out a way to navigate a way through a few batters before that second new ball arrives and that could be our entry point back into the game," added McDonald.