India women’s plan was to move the ball into Aussie batters using wobble seam, says Vastrakar after four-wicket haul

Vastrakar’s four for 53 was instrumental in India restricting Australia to a mere 219 in its first innings.

Pooja Vastrakar of India in action on Day 1 of Test match between India (Women) and Australia (Women) | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI/ The Hindu

Pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who wrecked Aussies with a four-wicket haul in India’s first innings of the one-off Test, said on Thursday that the Indian Women’s plan was to exploit the visitors’ vulnerability against incoming deliveries bowled with a wobble seam.

Vastrakar’s four for 53 was instrumental in India restricting Australia to a mere 219 in its first innings.

“Naturally, I have out-swing, but while watching the videos of both these teams (Australia and England), they had some difficulty in facing incoming deliveries,” Vastrakar told the media here after the first day’s play.

“We practiced during the training to try and get the ball moving in with the wobble seam, since the ball cuts well with the wobble seam and batters face difficulty,” she added.

Among her victims on the day was star all-rounder Ellyse Perry, who was cleaned up after the ball nipped back to crash onto her stumps.

“With Perry coming in, I wanted to bring the ball back in sharply and I was able to execute it properly,” Vastrakar said.

She credited India bowling coach Troy Cooley’s role in instilling some key values and focus points.

“Got a lot of help with him coming in. He is a very positive person and even when we have not done well he talks about the better deliveries that we would have bowled in that session,” she said.

Despite taking a four-for, Vastrakar said the surface against Australia proved more challenging to bowl on than the one against England.

“It did not appear to be an easy wicket like at DY Patil (Stadium) when we trained. We felt we would have to work hard here and hit the surface (hard) while bowling,” she said.

“The bowling coach told us that we would have to bowl wicket-to-wicket and hit the deck and try to get the ball coming back in. The first delivery I bowled to Perry was an in-swing and she got out,” the right-arm seamer added.

Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath praised Indian bowlers Vastrakar and Sneh Rana (3/56) for their relentlessness. But she hoped the visitors would be able to fight back on the second day.

“India bowled really well, they kept their plans simple, attacked the stumps and it was hard to score at times,” she said.

“(I am) a little bit disappointed I could not go on to get a big partnership with Moons (Beth Mooney) and a big score myself,” said McGrath, who top-scored for the Australians with 50 while adding 80 runs for the third wicket with Mooney (40).

“I struggled a lot with her (Sneh Rana); Moons looked slightly more comfortable. I constantly felt on edge against Sneh and she got me in the end,” McGrath added.

After being restricted to a moderate total, Australia bowled poorly to allow India to get off to a flier. McGrath admitted as much.

“Length is crucial as a pace bowling group. We missed the mark with the ball today, it is just about giving us the visual, running in and hitting that mark,” said McGrath.

“We were slightly over-pitched today and got punished. We have reflected on that — a little bit slow to adapt today — but that was our biggest strength a couple of weeks ago. It is there, it is (all) about executing it,” she added.