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Resurgent Australia seek to put pressure back on India

3 minute read

Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes his team has put "pressure" back on India after their stunning nine-wicket upset victory in the third Test in Indore.

ANDREW MCDONALD head coach of Australia speaks to media during an Australia International T20 training session at University of Otago Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand.
ANDREW MCDONALD head coach of Australia speaks to media during an Australia International T20 training session at University of Otago Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand. Picture: Joe Allison/Getty Images

Australia believe they have put significant pressure back on India after their famous nine-wicket triumph in the third Test in Indore.

Hopes of securing a Test series win in India for the first time since 2004 are already gone, but Australia could still level the contest at 2-2 with another victory in the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad.

Australia endured a disastrous start to the Border-Gavaskar series as they were completely outplayed in Nagpur and then suffered a diabolical batting collapse of 9-48 in Delhi when they were in a winning position.

But Australia rallied during their 10-day break to put together a complete performance in Nagpur to secure just a second win from their last 17 Tests in India.

"I don't think we know what we're going to get in Ahmedabad, I don't think anyone does. It's totally out of our control," Australia coach Andrew McDonald said.

"But we've definitely put some pressure into that (Indian) change room.

"We felt as though we did that most of the time in Delhi as well.

"You've got to be near perfect against India in India, to put them away, and I think it was a great win and that's what we did. Full credit to the guys, great reward for a group that over the past couple of weeks have had their challenges."

Steve Smith will likely retain the captaincy for the series finale with skipper Pat Cummins still in Sydney to be close to his seriously ill mother Maria, who is in palliative care.

"We're in constant contact with him daily, so at the moment he's not here and the Test match is a few days away, so we'll discuss with Pat on a daily basis," McDonald said.

Australia can take confidence out of how their XI played following the returns of star quick Mitchell Starc and allrounder Cameron Green.

Travis Head, who was axed for the opening Test in Nagpur due to his poor record in Asia, has been a revelation opening the batting in place of the injured David Warner.

McDonald reiterated he only viewed Head as an opening option in the subcontinent but heaped praised on the South Australian for his nerveless unbeaten 49 during the run chase on Friday.

"He can shift the momentum of the game in the middle order and I don't think we want to take that away from this team," he said.

"Opening the batting in Asia is a position he will enjoy over time.

"He looks at home at the top of the order. Those types of players, when they walk out there at 0-0, get to dictate the course of the game.

"His maturity when we lost Usman (Khawaja) early and were 13 runs off 10 overs, to absorb that was outstanding."

Meanwhile, fears spectators could be locked out of having access to watch day one of the fourth Test at Narendra Modi Stadium have been eased.

More than 80,000 seats have been reserved for "local students and families" with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be attending alongside Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday.

But fans can now access tickets online after previously only being able to purchase tickets to days two to five.

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