Australia assistant coach Daniel Vettori said enforcement of follow-up was always in the cards. Speaking to the media at the Gabba on Tuesday, Vettori said: “The only way to force this game (third Test) was to force a sequel.
“There was desperation to get that last wicket and we thought we had a really good chance when (Ravindra) Jadeja was dismissed, but it was a real fighting partnership between (Jasprit) Bumrah and Akash (Deep).”
Asked whether India’s rearguard actions had taken the Australians by surprise, Vettori was quick to deny: “Any batsman on any given day can step in and give his all. If you look at their averages, you might think there aren’t many of them.
“But Bumrah has proven that he can form partnerships, attack and defend. I think Akash is better than number 11.
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Dealing with Josh Hazlewood’s injury crisis, Vettori explained: “He’s quite depressed. Of course he fell this morning during the warm-up. It’s just unfortunate that he came back from another injury in the first Test and then picked up a calf injury here.
“I think the weather allowed us to operate in terms of breaks, allowed Mitch (Starc) and Pat (Cummins) to come back into the game multiple times, whereas if we had played the full 90 overs it would have been impossible. It was harder.”
Vettori added that the runs in the first rounds were crucial, while the weather could still influence strategies: “The first rounds were extremely important and you don’t really have to plan for the weather.
“The conversation was mainly about making the most of the first over and then trusting a very good bowler to perform on this pitch. Unfortunately, the amount of time lost in this game makes it difficult.”
