Australia have inched forward in the Boxing Day Test with an excellent batting display from their teammates. It was a superb performance from the likes of Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland, who formed vital partnerships to get their team out of a difficult situation.
However, it also looked like Australia might have missed an opportunity to put pressure on India by declaring their innings with a few overs left on the fourth day. Former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Michael Vaughan shared their views on Pat Cummins’ decision.
While Ravi Shastri predicted the reason for Australia’s failure to declare, Vaughan believes the Indian openers could have been put under pressure in the dying minutes of the day had they come out to bat.
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Ravi Shastri explains why Pat Cummins did not testify
While speaking on Fox Sports, Ravi Shastri stated that India will be happy that they did not bat in the last few overs as they are a difficult period to face after a long day on the field.
“They will be happy not to bat tonight. It’s a different game when you’ve been on the field all day to play those last 20 minutes or three or four overs. It’s a completely different atmosphere when you come back tomorrow,” the former India coach said.
Ravi Shastri also feels that Australia is aware of the young Indian batsmen who are capable of chasing any target on their day and hence Pat Cummins wanted to give them as many runs to chase as they could.
“You are fresher and you know that if you fail on the day you can get the score or save the game. It also tells you that Australia are a little bit wary of India. They have chased scores in the past and they have got the batsmen who, if they come in, can make a difference,” added Ravi Shastri.
India has already pursued big goals in the past. One of the most famous chases came at the Gabba during India’s Test series in Australia, the last time they toured for a Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“You just have to look at the psychology” – Michael Vaughan
But Michael Vaughan had other ideas. He feels that India could have been put under a lot of pressure if it had fought in that difficult situation. Vaughan claimed that India captain Rohit Sharma is in poor form and Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped three catches on the day, which could have been enough to put them under more pressure.
“You just have to look at the psychology; Rohit Sharma (i) would go first under enormous pressure. Then there is Jaiswal, who had a surprise on the field. “I think both players would be very happy to leave the MCG tonight and come back tomorrow,” Vaughan explained.
Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped three catches on the day and two of them were relatively easy chances. Dropped catches have already cost India and Jaiswal would look to make amends with the bat tomorrow.
Australia makes some progress on day 4
Meanwhile, Australia appear to be ahead in the game with their lead already extended to 333. Their final wicket pair will look to add as many runs as they can on the morning of Day 5 and come out fresh and attack the Indian batsmen.
The last wicket pair of Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland have already added more than fifty runs for the last wicket and put Australia in a good position. Captain Pat Cummins also scored an excellent 41. On the other hand, India needs to work hard to get closer to the target.
