Australia have been set a target of just 76 runs in the third Test here to register a memorable win in India but the hosts’ fast bowler Umesh Yadav is still not giving up hope given the nature of the pitch. 14 wickets fell on this pitch on the first day while 16 batsmen were dismissed on the second day on Thursday. The pitch is offering a lot of turn to the spinners while the uneven bounce has added to the batsmen’s woes. Nathan Lyon took eight wickets in the second innings on the second day as his team came close to registering a memorable win in India.
Umesh admitted that his team did not score enough runs but still his team will have a chance. Umesh, who was instrumental in wrapping up Australia’s first innings early on Thursday morning by taking three wickets, said after the end of the second day’s play, “Anything can happen in cricket.” We will try our best and bowl steak line and length. It is not an easy wicket, be it our batsmen or theirs. It is not easy to play shots coming out of the crease. “He said,” The ball is also staying low, so you are not sure about getting out of the crease.
Umesh said, “Runs are short but we will bowl on the right line and take the match as far as possible.” Didn’t get a chance. He bowled brilliantly in the morning session on Thursday, taking three wickets as Australia lost their last six wickets for just 11 runs and were bowled out for 197 runs. Umesh bowled Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy after Cameron Green was lbw.
He said, “On this pitch, my plan was to bowl straight to the stumps and get one or two wickets. As a fast bowler, I had to hit the pitch and hit the right areas. I have played most of my cricket in India and hence my mindset is always to take wickets. With the bat, Umesh Yadav was unable to add useful runs as both he and Mohammad Siraj were dismissed trying to play big shots.
Umesh said that on such pitches, it is better for a lower-order batsman to bat aggressively than play defensively. He said, “When I came to bat, I did not get any message (about batting aggressively). My job was to score runs on this difficult wicket. It is difficult to score runs here. I think it is better to play shots on such a wicket than to defend and get out. If I had scored even 10 to 20 runs, the lead would have reached 90 runs. It was more important to me.
