After making early breakthroughs on Day 2 of the 3rd Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, India failed to stop the run flow from the middle order-batters.
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India’s talisman bowler Jasprit Bumrah made early inroads by dismissing opening batters Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney cheaply, however, the other bowlers were unable to make similar impact during the Test.
Some interesting drama also unfolded in the middle when Mohammed Siraj attempted a Stuart Broad-like switch of the stumps to unsettle Marnus Labuschagne, which interestingly worked out six balls later. Watch the incident here!
Steve Smith, who had struggled throughout the series notched up a fifty while India’s arch-nemesis Travis Head blasted another century against the Men in Blue, his second in the ongoing BGT 2024/25 series.
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‘Dumb cricket’ – Why was Simon Katich slam India captain Rohit Sharma’s field placements?
The duo of Head and Smith added a partnership of over 151 runs for the fourth wicket as the Indian looked clueless against the Aussie southpaw.
In one instance which caught the attention of former Australia cricketer and now commentator Simon Katich, Rohit Sharma made a poor change in the field by bringing the fielder set at deep third man to gully.
In the next delivery, Mohammed Siraj bowled a short ball as Head instinctively hit a ramp shot for a boundary towards deep third man.
“That is unbelievable from Siraj because the over before, he had a man right in that spot and he’s running and bowled what they were planning without the fielder there. That is dumb, dumb cricket.”
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Katich was further infuriated when the Indian skipper panicked and reversed his plan again after the incident, by putting the fielder back at deep third, soon after.
“They got two men out on the leg side. They got a deep point. They had a man right in that spot for this very plan to Travis Head, and then he doesn’t have the fielder and now he’s going to put the fielder back down there right now. Horses bolted, buddy,” he added.
“That is dumb. Dumb cricket!”
Simon Katich didn’t miss Siraj and India for this delivery that Travis Head ramped to the boundary…#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/tvGRG2CfIK
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 15, 2024
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What did Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Bangar say about Rohit Sharma’s field placements?
Speaking on the Indian broadcast’s (Star Sports) commentary, Sunil Gavaskar echoed Katich’s criticism of Siraj and Rohit.
“You had a fielder there at deep third man for this particular [ramp] shot [from Travis Head] but you removed him to gully. Now you’re sending the gully back again [to deep third],” he said.
“Looking to close the stable doors after the horse has bolted (trying to fix an issue after the problem has already occurred),” the Indian legend added.
“You just make it easy for him. You’ve seen him play the shot before, the gully fielder has to be sharp and when the batter slashes it, it comes like lightning. Keeping the fielder at deep third, Head will think twice before attempting that ramp shot.”
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His co-commentator Sanjay Bangar was unhappy with the Indian captain’s inconsistency with sticking to the team’s plans as Rohit Sharma seemed to be panicking as Head piled up runs and continued his domination against India.
“It shows what is going through Rohit’s mind. When you have a plan, you need to stick with it. Consistency that is required to be laying out a plan is missing at the moment,” Bangar concluded.
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