Australia's 530 Par for MCG Pitch, India Will Bounce Back: R Ashwin
India will be able to score heavily on a flat pitch on Day 3 at the MCG and challenge Australia in the third Test despite their 530 in the first innings, R Ashwin said.
Disappointed they might be after conceding "too many runs" to the Australians, but Indian off-spinner R Ashwin on Saturday said the tourists will pile up their own share on Sunday in the ongoing third Test as the wicket has become flat now. (Scorecard | Blog)
India had pushed Australia on the backfoot on the opening day by reducing them to 259 for five but let the advantage slip on the second and the hosts ended up with 530 on the board.
In reply, India were 108 for one when stumps were drawn. Ashwin said it was disappointing to let go of the advantage but exuded confidence that his side's batsmen will do the job on day three. "We wanted to get them out pretty early. That was the plan. Unfortunately Steve Smith batted very well," said Ashwin. (Warner Fails to Take Field After Hand Injury)
"They got a bit too many runs for our liking. But if you look at the overall game, the score is pretty par for this pitch. The wicket seems slow and it is pretty flat. We'll take 108/1 and we'll like to pile on the runs Sunday." (India Had no Answers for Aussie Lower Order: Smith)
Australia finished their first innings just ahead of tea with Smith scoring his third successive hundred of the series. The young skipper was the last man out for 192 runs, and he got fine support from Brad Haddin (55) and Ryan Harris (74).
"We really thought Haddin had a genuine weakness over there," said Ashwin explaining the Indian bowlers' continuous approach of using the short-ball plan. (Mitchell Marsh Ruled Out of Sydney Test)
"We continue to think he has a weakness over there. We will continue to target him in the next innings and the next Test match as well. He doesn't quite look that comfortable to us."
"We were delaying the run-scoring (against the tail-enders) and we were pretty much ready for it. But it wasn't until the last 30 or 40 minutes when Smith teed off a bit. There was not a lot of lateral movement for us to exploit. We had plans in place to make sure Smith didn't get away, but as it turned out he batted really well and towards the end he teed off," Ashwin added.