It was back to basics. Smarting under two heavy defeats, the Australians, led by skipper Michael Clarke, were back at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday. They had a full batting session under the watchful eyes of coach Micky Arthur and the support staff.
The team preferred to bat on the same turf on which they tasted a heavy innings defeat. In fact, immediately after the match was over on Tuesday, the Australian team management requested the Hyderabad Cricket Association to have practice session in the same Test wicket. They batted for one hour and on Wednesday they returned to bat on a “fifth” day’s wicket.
A worried Australian team was all seriousness in their session. Clarke took the role of the mentorship, standing near the umpire’s position and looking at the batsmen at work. Then the skipper himself batted on the fifth day’s wicket which had some wear and turn.
He faced Nathan Lyon (who was dropped for the second Test), left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty and leggie Steve Smith. Dashing opener David Warner along with Shane Watson, too, batted for a long time.
The innings defeat has really rattled the Aussies. However, the Indian players dispersed in two batches. According to HCA sources, most of them left on Wednesday morning.