Young Indian batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad defended India’s death bowling performance after their defeat to Australia in the third T20I. According to Gaikwad, the conditions were challenging for the bowlers due to the dew that made gripping the wet ball difficult.
Except for Prasidh Krishna’s six-run 18th over, Men in Blue bowlers found no clue to the aggressive batting of the Australian batters. Glenn Maxwell hit a 47-ball century which is the fastest by an Australian batsman in the shortest format, and led Australia’s chase of 223 runs in the game with stand-in skipper Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell forming a match-winning partnership of 91 runs off 40 balls.
Speaking to the media, Ruturaj Gaikwad feels that death bowling is not a concern for the Indian team, as the conditions were unfavourable for bowling, and praised Glenn Maxwell for his outstanding performance and acknowledged the difficulty of playing in dewy conditions.
“I don’t think so death bowling is a concern. They are bowling with a wet ball and it’s tough on them. In these conditions, 12 runs an over, and even 13-14 runs an over are gettable. Even in the first game, we saw how easily we managed to chase 210. It’s just that the conditions are slightly tougher for them so we have to accept that and move on.”
“I think Maxi batted really well, and to win from a situation where they needed 100 from seven or seven-and-a-half overs, and then 50 from three overs, it was a creditable innings from him. Our bowlers tried executing what they had in their control, and the dew was making the ball slip, so it was tough for the bowlers as well. Even though we scored 230 in the last game, in between we felt the match might go till the last over,” Ruturaj Gaikwad said.
Maxwell started his innings with a bang, scoring 25 runs in his first ten balls and completing his half-century in just 28 balls with a six. He then reached his century in only 19 balls and finished unbeaten on 104 off 48 balls. Maxwell hit eight boundaries and four sixes to complete the highest-ever run chase against India in T20I history, sealing a remarkable win for Australia.
Australia’s top batter Glenn Maxwell delivered yet another display of destructive strokeplay as he scored a century to help his team defeat India. Despite being down 2-1 in the five-match series, Australia’s victory keeps their hopes of winning the series alive.