Bengaluru: Having set off on their Test series in the best possible way, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh revealed that the visitors are keen to carry on the winning momentum into the second Test in Bengaluru.
With the quality of the pitch and its ‘poor’ performance hogging much of the limelight, the 333-run victory for the Aussies has perhaps, lost a little bit of its shine. While that may be the case away from the dressing room, for the Steven Smith-led side, it was one of their best victories in trying conditions.
“(It was) probably one of the best victories I’ve played in my 20 Tests. It was pretty emotional at the end of the game. To be able to spend around 80 balls in the second innings on that wicket, has given me a lot of confidence to hopefully score a few runs in this game,” said Marsh two days before the second Test.
“I’ve been trying to work on my defence, playing with soft hands so that it takes the fielders around the bat out of the game as much as possible,” he elaborated on his effort in the nets.
Quizzed about the pitch in Bengaluru, the all-rounder refused to get the talk derailed, said: “Looks like a reasonably good wicket. Pretty dry, there’s a few cracks already. We try not to read too much into the actual wicket. At the end of the day, its 22 yards and both sides have got to bat and bowl on it. It’s about preparing as best we can.”
Historically, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has been a good hunting ground for the side from Down Under. The Aussies have won two and drawn two of their five encounters in the stadium dating back to 1979. Interestingly though, it was the home side who came up the trumps in their most recent clash back in 2010.
Whether that is a change in tradition or not, only time will tell. But Marsh stressed they are coming into the Test looking to add to their favourable results.
“That’s something we’ve spoken about as a group. Although none of us have played here we want to continue our winning ways at this ground,” claimed the 25-year-old adding that they are under no illusions about the difficult task ahead of them.
“We know India is a proud cricketing nation. This team will certainly come hard at us,” he said.
