India's Rohit Sharma, Akash Deep and Dodda Ganesh.
India's Rohit Sharma, Akash Deep and Dodda Ganesh. Image Credit: X

The former pace bowler of India, Dodda Ganesh, has blamed the decision of the touring side for using the night watchman, Akash Deep, towards the end of the second day’s play in the fourth of the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

India could hope to take the front seat of the Test when they ended the opening day, keeping the Australian side on 311/6 with Steve Smith unbeaten on a half-centurie, but the home side only had their long tail to follow. But they were dodgy from the start of the session and never looked to apply themselves to the plans.

Mohammad Siraj started the proceedings with the ball before Akash Deep shared the cherry on the other hand. The first over of the day’s play leaked ten runs as the touring side came into the backfoot straightway. Jasprit Bumrah was called on the third over of the day, but both the overnight batters negotiated the threat of the premier pacer in a great way.

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Steve Smith celebrated his 34th Test century as he soaked the applause from the crowd. It was also his 11th century in the longest format against India, going past Joe Root (10) in that aspect. The series was poised at 1-1 before this fixture, and with rain potentially expected to spoil the fifth New Year’s Test in Sydney, this MCG game is expected to be the decider.

Dodda Ganesh blames India’s decision to send Akash Deep as nightwatchman

Australia collected 474 runs on the board in the first innings before they sent back the new opener Rohit Sharma. The captain of India promoted him back to the opening slot, dropping KL Rahul at the number three position. But the Nagpur-born couldn’t last long as he tried to pull but was early on the shot. The ball ballooned in the air to die in the hands of the fielder.

KL Rahul made a smooth process of batting at number three as he smacked a few comfortable boundaries to settle the nerves along with Yashasvi Jaiswal on the other end. But the former was rattled on the last ball of the second session as the ball pitched in and nipped away to castle the off-stump as Pat Cummins put them ahead in the contest.

Virat Kohli walked with the bat at the start of the third session. The veteran and Jaiswal put a great partnership themselves for the third wicket. The former left the balls outside the off-stump before getting a few more boundaries as he earned the control back. Jaiswal celebrated his half-century, after which he used his feet against Nathan Lyon to smash him for a six as they put up a 102-run stand for the third wicket.

Jaiswal went for a nervy single as he went for a marathon. Kohli had no interest in the single, and it ended up as a wicket for India. That time, the management decided to send Akash Deep as their night watchman, a move that has been blamed by the former pacer of the side.

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“You’ve picked three all-rounders, but still, you send the Ill-equipped Akash deep as the night watchman to handle Starc and Boland. Seriously. Doesn’t make any cricketing sense.” Dodda Ganesh penned down in a social media post on his ‘X’ account (formerly known as Twitter).

Akash Deep couldn’t last long either and ended with a duck in 13 balls, as India ended the day with 164/5 in 46 overs. They are still 310 runs behind going into the third day’s play.