04 January,2021 08:07 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
India`s R Ashwin before sending down a delivery during the second day of the first Test against Australia at Adelaide. Pic/AFP
Australia's opening batsman Matthew Wade, who was dismissed by India's spin duo of off-spinner R Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the last Test at Melbourne, admitted on Sunday that tackling them is a huge challenge.
"They [Ashwin and Jadeja] are a tough spin duo to crack, very consistent and have bowled terrifically well, especially in Melbourne. Probably, they got more spin and bounce, more than what we expected in the first innings. That was a little bit of a shocker, but we expected that to come into play," Wade said at a virtual press conference from Melbourne. The third Test at Sydney starts on Thursday.
Wade, 33, who scored 111 runs in the two Tests of this season's Border-Gavaskar Trophy, is confident that Steven Smith, who managed to score just 10 runs in his last two Tests, will come to the rescue of the hosts in the remaining two games.
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"We didn't adapt quick enough to that [Melbourne] wicket, but Steve has played against Ashwin plenty of times and he has been very successful on our wickets against him. I am sure he will be fine and have no problems at all. We have to find a way, that's the nature of the beast," Wade said.
Experienced David Warner, 34, and young Will Pucovski, 22, are included in the team for the third Test. However, despite being Australia's second highest run-getter (111) in the series after Marnus Labuschagne (129), Wade is prepared for the possibility of being dropped at Sydney.
"Will [Pucovski] has come back into the squad, so whether they make that change straightaway and I slid back down, or whether I don't play at all, who knows. I have really enjoyed opening moving forward if that is something that the selectors want me to keep doing, I am comfortable doing it," remarked Wade.
The Tasmania batsman, who has scored 1,551 runs in 34 Tests, avoided talking on the issue of five Indian players being in isolation after they visited an Indian restaurant in Melbourne recently amidst bubble restrictions.
"As a group and personally I have not thought much about what India are doing outside a cricket ground. That is the situation. We are thinking about how we can do much better," said Wade. After losing the opening day-night Test at Adelaide by eight wickets, the Ajinkya Rahane-led Indian team bounced back in the four-Test series by beating the Aussies by the same margin in Melbourne.
