The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
SCG: Australia eye clean sweep
STEVE SMITH’S sole aim will be to keep Australia in the winning habit when they take on a Pakistan side contemplating the imminent departure of their most successful captain in the dead rubber Sydney Test this week. With a first test series win of the season already in the bag after the dramatic victory in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, Australia have continued the reconstruction of their team ahead of February’s four-test tour of India.
The recall of Steve O’keefe for a twin-spin attack and inclusion of debutant batting allrounder Hilton Cartwright gives Australia the look of a team getting an early start on preparations for a tour of the sub-continent.
Captain Smith, however, is well aware that little more than a month ago Australian cricket was in crisis after the home series loss to South Africa and his sights are firmly on victory and securing a 3-0 triumph over Pakistan.
“The selectors probably have an eye on India and the guys that are a possibility to be there,” Smith told reporters on Monday. “(But) you can’t think too far ahead. The conditions are completely different, it’s a different kind of spin that you get out here compared to India. We’re just focused on this test match at the moment, hopefully we can have a clean sweep.”
Cartwright to debut
All-rounder Hilton Cartwright will make his debut for Australia in the dead rubber third test against Pakistan in Sydney on Tuesday, with left-armer Steve O'keefe returning to the side as a second spinner alongside Nathan Lyon.
Cartwright, who has a batting average close to 45 in first class cricket, can also bowl medium pace and replaces Nic Maddinson in the side after the left-hander scored just 27 runs in his four innings in the series.
Captain Smith said 24-year-old batting all-rounder Cartwright had improved his bowling considerably over the last year and therefore would be used to ease the workload of frontline quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Not over yet: Misbah
Misbah-ul-haq was so upset by the nature of the innings and 18-run defeat in Melbourne — a loss that ended his hopes of leading Pakistan to a first ever tour triumph in Australia — that he considered retiring from Tests immediately.
The 42-year-old, who been considering hanging up his bat for more than a year and has scored only 20 runs in four innings in the series, ultimately decided to lead his country into the match but the end cannot be far away.
“You have to fight as a sportsman and that's important for me also,” he told reporters on Monday. “Everyone, from the support staff to the players are up for that, so I'm also up. I need to play at my best.”
Pakistan will also be looking for better from another veteran batsman in Younis Khan to bolster a line-up that has shown a worrying fragility in their last few test matches. As in Melbourne, the weather will be a factor with rain forecast at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for all five days from Tuesday.
Head groundsman Tom Parker has promised a bit of traditional SCG turn, which is good news for O'keefe and off-spinner Nathan Lyon but might also provide fitting conditions for Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who so far had a middling series, to show the full range of his powers.
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CHANDRAKANT Pandit, Mumbai’s coach, wasn’t worried but had to think hard about who should be batting at No. 3 in the crucial semi-final game. The morning had carried unpleasant news that their aggressive batsman and the original inhabitant at the vital spot, Shreyas Iyer was suffering from food poisoning, and had to be rushed to hospital.
Pandit was having a chat with the captain Aditya Tare when Suryakumar Yadav came up to them and asked whether he could bat at No. 3 slot. Iyer had cemented his place in the side as specialist one-down batsman but Yadav knew it was a chance worth taking. Especially, to prove that he can be the man who can take any challenges for his team.
Yadav chose to go in with a counter-attacking plan rather than walk in with a defensive mindset. It was a delightful innings to watch as he proved you could be aggressive with a straight-bat approach. It hadn’t always come naturally to him. Yadav revealed how it took two seasons to get used to play those traditional strokes. The IPL T20 batting mode had affected his technique but he was aware that in the longer format traditional batsmanship was needed to survive and thrive.
“I had the habit of playing middle-stump ball to mid-wicket or try to flick it. I used to play reverse shot earlier but it took two years to get rid of it as I felt that playing straight will give me more runs and it’s less risky. In earlier matches, I was batting at number four and hence I wanted to stay there longer for the team. But today, I went out to bat in Iyer’s position and looked to take up his role of scoring runs, which is important in knock out games,” Yadav said.
When Yadav came to bat, he looked different. He slammed two straight driven boundaries off Aswin Crist and later repeated the dose against the medium-pacer T Natrajan. When the pacer tried to pull him shot, he pulled one for a six. Mumbai scored with an average of four till he batted and it looked the defending champions will have a easy day out.
However, there is a bit of setback to happen after Yadav nicked one behind to Kartik off Vijay Shankar. It was around that time that R Ashwin, India's premier spinner, tweeted about the state of affairs at the game.
“Seam is sitting up when Vijay Shankar is bowling and things are happening.” From 125 for 2, Mumbai lost two more wickets in span of three runs. Praful Waghela was run out while trying to take a quick single whereas Siddhesh Lad went for a drive off the left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas but Abhinav Mukund took a low catch at short cover.
Mumbai who were dominating till then were taken aback and the next eight overs saw only ten runs being added on the board. Shreyas Iyer came out to bat and it was more of a cautious knock than his usual attacking one. He along with Tare ensured Mumbai didn’t lose out another wicket and at stumps they had reached 171 for 4.
Earlier, Mumbai had bundled out Tamil Nadu for 305 after they resumed at 261 for 6.
Overnight batsman Shankar went on to score fifty (overnight batting 41). Mediumpacer Shardul Thakur finished with four wicket haul on a batting track and he was supported by Abhishek Nayar, who too finished with four-wicket haul.
Mumbai chase started with a new opener — the 17-year-old Prithvi Shaw. He hit a fine drive but got out trying to chase Aswin Crist’s ball only to get an edge behind to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.
A lot will depend on Iyer and Tare – a substantial partnership can get Mumbai ahead in the game.
BRIEF SCORES:
Tamil Nadu 305 (Indrajith 64, Gandhi 50, Vijay Shankar 50; Nayar 4/66, Thakur 4/75) vs Mumbai 171/4 (Suryakumar Yadav 73, Waghela 48).