‘Ashwin, Jadeja have put Smith under pressure’

MUMBAI: After R Ashwin managed to tease and torment the Aussie batters Down Under in 2020-21 to help India to win the Border-Gavaskar series, cricket followers were waiting to see what response Steve Smith & Co would come up with.

Against any opposition, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are a handful in Indian conditions and the key to the series was always going to be how Smith and Labuschagne, Australia’s two most accomplished batters, countered the spin threat.

In the first two Tests, it hasn’t been much of a battle. In the series opener at Nagpur, Jadeja walked away with all the glory, accounting for Labuschagne in both essays and Smith in the first innings while Ashwin continues to have Smith’s number, getting him out in both innings in the second Test.

While Australia see Ashwin as the main threat, Jadeja has done more damage in the series. The left-arm spinner has come back stronger from a long injury-induced layoff to bag 17 wickets and lead the wicket-takers chart. Overall, Jadeja has got Labuschagne thrice and Smith once. So what’s working for Jadeja? Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg, who is in Mumbai on a coaching assignment with the Reliance One team for the DY Patil T20 Cup, says: “It’s just the fact that he is been out of the game a long time, he is energised. When you come back and you have missed it, you get excited to play again.”

Jadeja doesn’t spin the ball as much as Ashwin, he doesn’t have the overspin either but he attacks the stumps and it skids a little bit more, that’s where the Saurashtra bowler comes into play feels Hogg.

Smith has scores of 37, 25*, 0 and 9 in his four innings, Mar

NEW DELHI: Australia skipper Pat Cummins has opted out of the third Test against India due to family emergency and his deputy Steve Smith will lead the side in the contest, starting March 1 in Indore.

The Australian skipper’s mother “is ill and in palliative care”, as per reports. PTI

nus Labuschagne’s numbers are 49, 17, 18 and 35 — and each time they have been gobbled up by Jadeja or Ashwin.

“They have been able to put pressure on Smith,” said Hogg. “No matter who you are, the extra pressure put on you is going to be pretty tough. They just haven’t really allowed them to feel that comfortable out in the middle. They are made to work hard for their runs. Basically, it was just bowling in good areas, putting pressure on them and not allowing them to use their feet comfortably.”

For Hogg, one of the examples of how well Ashwin and Jadeja have bowled as a team was on display in Australia’s second innings in Delhi.

Labuschagne got off to a brisk start with five fours in a 50-ball 35 but then Ashwin changed his line of attack to build the pressure on him.

GETTY FILE Brad Hogg.