Tourists defend to the pitch’s death

Blocking Indians play the series long game

AN Indian go-slow on a wicket destined for the scrapheap may have cooked Australia’s bowlers in a plan that could put the MCG Test and potentially the fourt Test in Sydney beyond the home team’s reach.

The Indian batsmen put on the brakes and forced the Australian attack to toil for another 80.4 overs in baking heat yesterday.

Three dropped catches in the final session, all off Nathan Lyon, added to the misery.

Captain Virat Kohli declared 30 minutes before stumps when India, after some late lusty hitting, was 7-443.

After 169.4 overs in the field, Australian openers Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris survived six overs, and Harris another blow to his helmet from Jasprit Bumrah, as variable bounce started to become something to worry about.

But Finch said it was still “game on” for a team looking for its own monster batting effort to save the bowlers, who he said were tired from having to fight the pitch again.

“This wicket is deteriorating a lot more than we probably thought it would,” he said.

“It’s still game on if we bat really well, and back up and bowl again and put India under a lot of pressure.

“I think all three results are still on the table.

“We’ve very confident we can bat big and put India under pressure again.”

But Finch conceded there was little bounce or sideways movement in the wicket.

A draw is the favoured result with bookmakers.

“We need a sense of urgency in terms of the regeneration of this wicket square,” Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said amid calls to scrap all the MCG pitches and start again.

Comparisons have been made to last year’s MCG yawn fest against England, but that match featured more runs (519) and wickets (12) on the opening two days than this year’s Boxing Day bomb.

Conscious of the back-toback Tests in Melbourne and Sydney, plus the opportunity to win its first series in Australia, the Indians decided to grind the bowlers into the dirt.

Only Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, with some hitting as India sought a declaration before stumps, scored at a strike rate above 50 in the innings.

CricViz stats revealed the tourists defended more deliveries than in any Test they have played in the past 18 months.

Even energetic skipper Virat Kohli put up a defensive wall, leaving 67 of the 204 balls he faced in making 82, the most times he has allowed the ball to pass in any innings in the series.

The Indian innings was the longest at the MCG since 1983.

Century-maker Cheteshwar Pujara said the wicket was challenging to bat on, but even at his normal slow pace, he would not have taken the four sessions he needed to reach three figures.

But with the wicket showing signs of variable bounce, Pujara was confident India had enough runs and time left to get the result it needs to take a 2-1 series lead.

“To score 200 in a day is a tough task, so I think we have enough runs on the board,” he said.

“As we saw today, the pitch has already started deteriorating and there’s variable bounce.

“I don’t think it’s easier to bat now.”