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Australia's objective to adapt to spin-friendly pitches following the Nagpur Test defeat were thwarted after ground workers at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium watered the centre and practice pitches overnight despite a request from the visitors to utilise the facilities on Sunday.
Australia's team management asked the VCA ground crew if the centre wicket and training pitches could be left used after the match concluded so that the players could train on Sunday afternoon. However, after the squad left the ground, officials watered the centre wicket on Saturday night. Australia had planned an optional session on Sunday afternoon, with five players in the squad scheduled to head to the stadium, but those plans were cancelled after the practice wickets were watered. ESPNcricinfo approached the VCA for clarification but was assured that both teams would train the next day. The cancellation of training comes as Australia looks for redemption after a humiliating defeat in the opening Test. Their batters are racing against time to find a way to deal with Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who floored the visitors in both innings, skittling them out for 177 and 91. Head coach Andrew McDonald said the Australian batsmen needed to be more active after a slew of players got trapped on the crease during the second innings slump. "We felt as though we probably weren't as proactive as what we needed to be in the extreme conditions. In Galle [last year] we showed that in Test match one [against Sri Lanka] where we were really proactive. And in this instance, we probably weren't and that showed up in the second innings. If you stand still and look to defend for long periods of time against that quality spin line-up you've got pretty much a ball with a number on it and unfortunately, we weren't able to get into the method that we wanted to apply," McDonald said on Sunday. The head coach highlighted the use of the sweep shot to thrive on a spinning wicket, saying that his batters play it as often they should have despite it being talked about in the build-up to the game. "We saw very little sweeping which is something that we valued leading in as well. So we'll review why that was the case. And there's no doubt that when you're under extreme pressure like that, and you're behind the game sometimes you narrow in and we need to be more expansive than that. I thought Steve Smith summed it up really well after he came off and said we're going to have to be brave, take some risks, take the ball down the ground, push some fielders out and give ourselves the ability to rotate the strike," McDonald added. On the lack of intent from the Aussies, the former Australia international said, "They were able to crowd us, swarm us and we weren't able to push the fielders back. You look at the way they played, they were able to push the fielders back, they took calculated risks. So you can always learn from the opposition, but you don't want to be them in the same instance as well. We're going to have to do it slightly differently." India took a 1-0 lead in the ongoing series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after trouncing the Baggy Greens by an innings and 132 runs. A five-wicket haul by Ravichandran Ashwin, combined with the all-round performance by Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel helped India crush the Aussies at Nagpur in less than three days. (ANI)
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