India vs Australia, 2nd Test: Green top in Perth might backfire for Australia, says Michael Vaughan

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma took a combined 14 of the 20 Australian wickets. (Reuters Photo)

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that preparing a green track for the second Test between India and Australia might backfire for the hosts. According to Vaughan, the Indian pacers performed better than their Australian counterparts in the first Test. “Certainly from seeing the Indian attack in England and at the Adelaide Oval, Bumrah (Jasprit), Shami (Mohammad) and Sharma (Ishant) will be going to bed tonight thinking thank you. The actual three quicks of India out bowled the three quicks of Australia. They were outstanding. It’s a big big risk that Australia are taking,” he said.

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma took a combined 14 of the 20 Australian wickets. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, on other hand, accounted for 11 out of as many. Batsmen of both sides fell in a heap in the first innings, with the exception of Cheteshwar Pujara, whereas India faired better than Australia in the second.

“They clearly need a pitch that they feel they can get at the Indian batsmen but I just look to the game at Adelaide Oval, it wasn’t the pitch, it wasn’t anything to do with the conditions. It was just that India produced more discipline for longer periods,” said Vaughan.

Starc especially had a lean spell in the second innings which Vaughan cited as one of the reasons for Australia’s defeat. “Unfortunately for Australia one of their quicks didn’t quite get the radar right and I would say that went a long way to India just nipping over the line in that Test match.”

With Ravichandran Ashwin out due to injury, it is widely speculated that India might add Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the existing bowling line-up and go for a four-pronged pace attack for only the third instance in their Test history, after Johannesburg (2018) and Perth (WACA 2012). But Vaughan said he would like to see Ravindra Jadeja playing at the new Perth Stadium.

“Jadeja’s a wonderful cricketer as well. He’s someone that I’d want in the team. He bats well, he’s an incredible fielder, he will create something in the field and with his bowling he’s just going to keep bowling,” Vaughan said. “You look at your three quicks and Ravi Jadeja, as a captain I look at it and you think you’ve got an end tied up against left and right-hand, and if it does start to spin like it did in a Shield match a few weeks ago, he’ll come into his own.”

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