Some remarks made on television by former Australian leg-spinner Kerry O’ Keeffe during the third Test have not gone down well with the Indians.
First, he said Mayank Agarwal must have made his first-class triple hundred against a Railway Canteen Staff attack. And on Saturday, he remarked why would anyone name their kid “Cheteshwar, Jadeja.”
Some Aussie commentators were apparently having difficulty pronouncing names of the Indian cricketers when O’ Keeffe made his comment, where he did not even get the name of one of the leading batsmen of the series right, in this context.
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Beyond our control
Asked about these comments after the end of play on Saturday, India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun said, “ Yes, it does hurt you when people make those remarks but there is nothing you can do about it. It’s beyond your control. If you can channelise that hurt towards doing better on the field that answers all the questions.”
He added the Indian team did not have any plans of lodging a complaint “right now.” India coach Ravi Shastri had already reacted angrily to O’ Keeffe’s words on Mayank's triple hundred.
Load monitoring crucial
Arun, who has played a major role in forging the present Indian pace attack, said, “Right from the period we started the tour of South Africa, England and right now, they [the pacemen] have done exceptionally well.”
He said, “We have done a lot of work during the training sessions. We have had great fast bowlers like Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan before but now we have a bunch of fast bowlers and it augurs well for India.”
The pace bowling coach added, “It’s a combination of a lot of work – identifying what it requires to be done. Load monitoring is extremely crucial.”
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Bumrah hard to pick
Talking about Jasprit Bumrah’s emergence as a strike bowler in Tests, Arun said, “To be honest, we were extremely confident of Bumrah doing well even before he started playing Test matches because he is hard to pick.”
Arun, who had the opportunity to work with Bumrah at the under-19 level in the NCA, said, “I felt that Bumrah was able to generate a lot of pace with his quick-arm action, which is unique, but that put a lot of strain on his body. We needed to work on him to become extremely strong to be able to sustain his bowling.”
We will fight
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, meanwhile was all praise for Pat Cummins. Cummins scythed through the Indian lineup in the second innings and later, thwarted India's surge for a famous win with a gritty knock.
“Pat has been exceptional in this match and he keeps getting better every day. I enjoy batting with Pat, it helps calm down my nerves. It was a pretty special knock from him. He is a great bloke but an even better cricketer. He has a hell of a long career ahead of him as an all-rounder.”
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Lyon added "Pat and I are going to come out tomorrow and we are going to fight. We have to show a lot of pride and show what it means to wear the Baggy Green cap. And we will enjoy doing that.”
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