India’s lower-order batters will make difference in Test series: Aus coach McDonald

Jadeja and Patel slammed 70 and 84, respectively, as India amassed 400 runs in response to the visiting team’s total of 177.

Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja put on a crucial partnership in India’s win over Australia in the opening Test. | Photo Credit: AP

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald believes India’s strong lower-order batting, comprising Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel among others, will be the “differentiator” in the three remaining Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Jadeja and Patel played a pivotal role with the bat in the first innings, slamming 70 and 84 respectively, as India amassed 400 runs in response to the visiting team’s total of 177.

That, along with Rohit Sharma’s century and sterling bowling performances from Jadeja and Ashwin, helped the host thrash Australia by an innings and 132 runs inside three days at Nagpur to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

The two teams will play the second Test in New Delhi from February 17, and McDonald said India’s lower-order batters will challenge his side.

“Their (India’s) lower-order batting is also going to be a differentiator in this series in (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Axar) Patel and (Ravichandran) Ashwin… they’ve got a really strong lower-order and we’re going to be challenged by that,” McDonald told SEN Radio on Monday.

“They’re no doubt going to have more runs available to their lower-order than ours, so we’ve got to try to work out how to break even in that sense.” The coach, who took over following the departure of Justin Langer last year, said the loss in the opening Test will not force the team to revisit its strategy for the next three matches, expressing hope that the pre-series planning can still work.

“I think if you start to shift and change dramatically and too quickly you start to get lost. Clearly, we’re disappointed with our first-up performance, we are realistic though, it’s a four-Test series so there’s a long way to go,” McDonald said.

“The planning and preparation that went into it, we still feel that can work and we’ve got some quality players in the change room that can get us back on the right side.” McDonald conceded a poor showing in the first-innings in Nagpur drastically pegged Australia back, after which it couldn’t recover.

“India put us under extreme pressure, we didn’t maximise our first innings and when you get behind in the subcontinent it’s a long way back and things can happen fast and that’s what we saw play out.

“(The third day’s) play is probably a reflection of not maximising that first innings after winning the toss,” he added.