Aussies to tap into inputs on Ashwin from warm-up tie: Head
ADELAIDE:AUSTRALIA batsman Travis Head is looking to pick the brains of his junior state teammate Harry Nielsen to tackle offspinner R Ashwin during the opening Test against India, starting here on December 6.
South Australia’s Nielsen (100), a left-handed batsman like Head, negotiated Ashwin (2/122) well and scored a hundred in the warm-up game between Cricket Australia XI and India.
“Harry Nielsen (Cricket Australia XI) played him well enough in the practice game, so I am looking forward to having a word with him (about facing Ashwin),” said Head.
Ashwin has had a lot of success against left-handers during his career and Australia are likely to have at least four lefties in their playing XI but Head said they are capable of countering the Indian’s threat.
“I faced Ashwin a couple times in IPL before this, so don’t have much experience of playing him in Test cricket. But we have batsmen who can play spin well,” he added.
“Look, it is not just about one spinner. If we play six righthanders, they will play Ravindra Jadeja who is another good bowler. I think it will be a good contest.”
Head said Australia will look to be aggressive in their action rather than with words.
“I haven’t played much Test cricket. In ODIS fielding on the boundary, it is not easy to get talkative. But I am sure we will look to play fierce cricket and look to be aggressive. Words are cheap. It is all about actions.” SYDNEY : Australia skipper Tim Paine says his bowlers won’t shy away from having a go at India captain Virat Kohli but will pick their moments carefully.
The Australian team is in the middle of cultural transformation following the ball tampering scandal that brought the focus on team’s ethics and values that included unbridled aggression resulting in sledging. Coach Justin Langer has stressed on the need for the team to be elite in values, which includes being humble and offering handshake to opposition.
Some former cricketers like Michael Clarke have hit out at this transformation saying that it takes away the traditional aggression from Australian cricket.
“It’s been received well, I haven’t heard otherwise,” Paine told cricket.com.au of the handshake idea. “I just think it’s a bit of a no-brainer, just a show of sportsmanship. It doesn’t mean we’ll be the nicest team in the world to play against by any stretch of the imagination.
Paine said they’ll be calculative against Kohli.
“He’s certainly someone who, from what I’ve seen, enjoys getting into that sort of stuff. We’ll just play it by ear; if there’s a time when we think we need to have a word with him, I’m sure we will. If there’s other times when we feel like we’re bowling well against him and are troubling him, then you don’t have to do it,” Paine said of Kohli. “It’s just about picking your time and picking your moment and doing what the team requires.”
Kohli has toured Australia twice earlier and has been successful with the bat. In 2014-15, he scored 692 runs, the most by an Indian batsman in Australia.
But Paine feels Australia have enough firepower in the pace attack to trouble India’s talismanic captain although he cautioned them against being too emotional that can disorientate them. “I think our fast bowling attack, if they play purely on skill, they’re going to trouble him,” Paine added. “At times when we get too emotional, we can lose our way a little bit. So it’s a really fine line.
“There’s going to be times when they’re going to get a bit fiery, I’m sure. But we need to be mindful of keeping ourselves calm enough so we can execute our skills as well,” he added.
Paine said a one-on-one contest with Kohli is okay as long as it doesn’t go over the top.
“I think it’s important that guys play the way that suits them. If you’re someone who likes to get into a contest one-on-one with someone like Virat, then go for your life,” he said.
“But I don’t think it needs to be over the top and I don’t think guys who aren’t normally like that need to start doing it.”