New Delhi: Former Australia captain Mark Taylor was in praise of batter Travis Head for spearheading the charge for the visitors’ nine-wicket victory over India in the third Test at Indore, pointing out that the left-hander put pressure on the bowler which worked very well.
Opening for Australia in absence of an injured David Warner, Head came into his own in the second innings chase of 76 on day three’s play with an unbeaten 49 to give the visitors a memorable victory in 18.5 overs.
“Australia had to be a little bit proactive, but as we saw in the second Test when they decided to reverse sweep and sweep everything, being proactive doesn’t mean being rash. It needed someone to push the button and say ‘I’ve got to put the pressure back on the bowler’.”
“That was the moment Travis Head thought, well I’m going to go now, I’m going to go try and eat into this deficit quickly and put the pressure on the bowler, and it worked brilliantly,” Taylor was quoted as saying by Wide World of Sports.
He also termed Australia’s performance as “excellent”, particularly when the side went through a lot of changes between the second and third Tests, especially with regular captain Pat Cummins flying back home to be with his ailing mother.
“On a very average pitch – and that’s putting it nicely – the Aussies did really well. To lose the toss as well – they won the toss in the first two and had the advantage, and then sort of lost it as the games went on.”
“This match, they had players out, captain gone, then to lose the toss on a raging turner and still win by nine wickets, that’s a great effort.”
With the win in Indore, Australia have made the four-game scoreline 2-1 and also sealed a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, to be held at The Oval from June 7-11. The fourth and final Test of the series will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from March 9.
–IANS