Adelaide, Dec 2: The rampaging Indian team aside, a Pink-ball Test brings with it its own set of challenges, but Australian batter Steve Smith is “focussed” on taking them all head on in the game beginning here on Friday.
Australia will enter the day/night match – second of the five-match series – trailing, following a heavy defeat in the opener at Perth.
Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, the two batting mainstays of the Australian team, were dismissed cheaply for low scores in the first Test, which Australia lost by 295 runs.
“Pink ball, it can be challenging at different times of the day or night depending on where you bat and the situation of the game and the ball and all those kind of things,” Smith was quoted as saying in a Star Sports video.
“So just being really switched on. The pink ball can be a little bit unpredictable at times. So yeah, just being really focussed,” he added.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins also spoke on the challenges of playing a Pink-ball Test, but felt the basics remain the same.
“I think all the basics are the same really. You know sometimes the game goes on different paces as the ball gets older and softer but it’s Test cricket,” Cummins said.
I’m good to go: Marsh
Australia’s seam bowling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has allayed concerns about his injury, declaring himself “good to go” for the pink ball second Test against India, which begins here on December 6.
The 33-year-old had felt discomfort after bowling after bowling 19.3 overs in the opening Test, which Australia lost by 295 runs at Perth, but Marsh has confirmed his fitness ahead of the second Test at Adelaide Oval.
Australia had included uncapped Tasmania all-rounder Beau Webster in the squad due to doubts over Marsh’s fitness.
However, Marsh has assured that he is ready for the challenge.
Asked about any fitness concerns, Marsh told Channel Nine: “The body’s all good, yep. Nah, nah, I’m good to go.” “I’ll be there,” he added after arriving in Adelaide on Monday.
This news will come as a boost for Australia, who are also dealing with the absence of senior pacer Josh Hazlewood, who pulled out of the pink ball Test due to a side strain.
In Hazlewood’s absence, pacer Scott Boland could join Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in the pace attack.
Marsh, who has been managing a recurring ankle injury, also underwent surgery that saw him miss parts of the 2022-23 summer. While his bowling workload has been limited, his primary role has been as a specialist batter.
Since returning to the Test side following a memorable century in last year’s Ashes, Marsh has accumulated 803 runs at an average of 44.61 in 11 matches.
In Perth, he scored 47 off 67 balls, emerging as the only Australian batter apart from Travis Head (89) to put up a fight in the opening Test. (PTI)
