The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Australia hit the ground running
Smith, Marsh score centuries but conditions and attack a far cry from what they will face in Test series
DAVID WARNER didn't face a single ball of spin at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday. Neither did his opening partner, Matt Renshaw. The two centurions Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh, on the other hand, faced a slew of part-timers and Shabhaz Nadeem, who didn't turn it much on a track that had a bit of help for the seamers in the first session before turning flat. It wasn't intentional though, nor a part of some churlish conspiracy to deny the visitors of what they would have ideally craved for from the opening day of their only warm-up game—acclimatizing to spin.
India A had K Goutham, the Karnataka off-spinner, but he suffered from cramps and had to leave the field without bowling a ball. And with that most of the intensity evaporated from the arena. On a dry hot day, Hardik Pandya bowled well within himself, Ashok Dinda was pretty decent, and it was left to young Navdeep Saini to come up with couple of impressive spells, were he accounted for the openers and ensured they didn't last till it was time for Nadeem and his fellow tweakers to come on.
Not many have bounced out Warner but Saini managed to do it. The left-hander topedged the pull only to see Ishan Kishan settle under it. Renshaw played a patient hand, before Saini took him out with a delivery that angled across and took the edge.
It was a day where Saini, the Delhi seamer with a lanky frame and a bustling bowling action that sees his limbs make many energetic movements before reaching the last stride, made a rather noteworthy impression. But one that post the Saini-show, meandered along and was more going through the motions rather than enthralling much like the senior Marsh's press conference following his century at the end of the day.
Marsh, who's not guaranteed a place in the playing XI with Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb the natural picks, hardly seemed at any unease during his fluent century and reiterated on numerous occasions about how the Australian batsmen's focus was solely on “spending valuable time at the crease”.
On that count, Australia would be happy that at least two of their middle-order batsmen spent enough time out there, even if they weren't tested the way they would have preferred. Smith & Co are after all coming off a week in Dubai where their preparation was focused on preparing for a tough tour in a country where their Test record over the last decade stands at a not-too-impressive — Played 10, Lost 6, 0 wins. And they would have expected to put that preparation to the test against a fairly decent India A bowling attack. But it somehow wasn't to be, not with Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer and even Priyank Panchal bowling a majority of the overs in the middle to late sessions.
Not like it deterred Smith from showing why he'll be the one batsman who India will be intimidated by—not like they need any reminders—over the next few weeks. All the usual tics from a Steve Smith knock were on sight at the CCI. The shuffle to off, at times even outside off, the body almost facing the on side, the most worked Australian wrists of modern times, and loads of time while playing seamers. Slow men weren't much of a threat and only at times, if any, they posed some problems when the ball came on really slow and he had to check his cut shots. With the pitch settling down, and no quality spinners in operation, Steve Smith flowed along unimpeded.
Smith also went down the track, pressed back as occasion demanded, and generally bossed around. Saini kept him honest in the morning session with his impeccable line and length, and there were a couple of overs in the middle from Dinda, who got the ball to bounce awkwardly. Once Smith had to take his bottom hand off the handle to jab the ball away. But by and large, he flowed along in his unique fashion.
Unlike with Smith, a Marsh innings often provides a lot more to admire in terms of pure aesthetic value. There's the languid movement of the bat, hands and body all in perfect harmony whenever he plays the drive and even his footwork against spin, especially when he leaves the crease, has a lot of fluidity about it. He's also quick on his feet, which means the spinner only has to pitch it slightly short to see Marsh cut and scythe him away through the point region. And he ticked all those boxes during his triple-figure knock here. You wonder how much of a say though would the fact that he mainly had to contend with the likes of Herwadkar and Iyer have on the eventual judgement of his knock with regards to it helping him upstage Khawaja from the No.4 slot—the only one that looks vacant presently.
There are days when you can also often be left wondering, practice match, what are they good for? Friday was one in many ways. Considering that it's the make-up of their bowling attack that still remains pretty much in the air though, Saturday should bring in a lot more relevance to the three-day contest. Plus, there's also the prospect of the Big Show Glenn Maxwell getting a go with the bat.
BRIEF SCORES: 327 for 5 in 90 ovs (S Smith retired out 107, Shaun Marsh retired out 104; Navdeep Saini 2/27)