Ind vs Aus 3rd Test Day 2: Indian bowling coach Morkel backs Jadeja despite rough outing; praises centurions Head, Smith

Morne Morkel praises centurions, assesses Indian attack, and discusses bowlers' performances in post-match press conference.

After a long day for his wards in the park, Morne Morkel strode into the press conference hall. A hat-tip to centurions Travis Head and Steve Smith, and a fair assessment of the Indian attack were par for the course as the Indian bowling coach dealt with the media at the Gabba on Sunday, December 15, 2024.

Morkel admitted that it was tough to counter Head: “He is in pretty good form, playing back-to-back innings, we can only give a lot of credit. For us with the ball, if you look at it from overs 50 to 80, it is where we sort of fall short, leaking a little bit, so that is one area we need to get better at. Steve Smith, we know, is a guy that can bat back and score runs, and they put a partnership and put us under pressure with a softer ball.”

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Doing a report card on his bowlers during the course of the third Test, Morkel said: “Akash (Deep) did well, bowled his heart out, same for (Mohammed) Siraj, he cramped early on in the day, so for him to still run in today and bowl, was great. (Jasprit) Bumrah is the number one bowler in the world and you need somebody to back him up but honestly, I can’t fault the effort of the other seamers.”

And about Ravindra Jadeja, who had a rough outing, Morkel added: “Jaddu, coming into this match didn’t have a lot of game time, but he is also a guy who has taken a lot of Test wickets. We wanted to bring in the left-arm option, he is also a guy, who can offer us a lot with the bat. Unfortunately today wasn’t his day. He is a world-class player and he will work it out.”