Darren Lehmann backs Australia to be ready for Jadeja challenge

Team Australia head coach Darren Lehmann has backed his boys to come up good against Ravindra Jadeja on the final day of the Ranchi Test. The Indians managed to eke out a lead in excess of 150 in the first innings before declaring on 603/9 on the penultimate day. The Australians were then asked to bat for just over half an hour on the day and that turned out to a be nightmare for them. Indian left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja got rid of David Warner and then backed it up by removing nightwatchman Nathan Lyon too.

Jadeja, with figures of 2/6 in 3.2 overs on the day, looks like an uphill task for the visitors. Darren Lehmann is very well aware of this fact and hence has stressed on the point that they are up for the challenge. They know they will have to come up with a plan against Jadeja. He feels the team has it in them to combat the number one ranked bowler.

“Going to have to come up with a plan to combat Jadeja but we’ve worked on that and you’ll probably see it tomorrow I would think. They’ve got to believe in what they are doing as a group and a couple of good balls like tonight that can happen in a game of cricket. For us it’s a great challenge. The challenge for our group is to put on a couple of partnerships and really get ahead of the game,” quoted Darren Lehmann.

Jadeja made full use of the rough patches on the pitch and it was a gem of a delivery that got the priced scalp of David Warner. Lehmann lauded the effort delivery and said if Jadeja manages to bowl 10 more of such balls, then there is very little that the visitors can do in that case. However, he has backed his boys to come up good in the challenging condition.

“It was a great ball that got Warner in the end. If they bowl 10 of those so be it. But we’ve got to cope with it as best as we can and come up with a plan and we’ve done a lot of practice in those conditions, so I’m really confident they can do the job and see how they go. It’ll be a great challenge for them,” quoted the Australian coach.

He further remarked that the Australian batters will have to adapt themselves like Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha did on day 4. While Saha scored a brilliant 117, it was Pujara’s marathon 202 off 525 balls that hurt the Australians. Lehmann was all praise for Pujara’s knock and commended his effort.

“Obviously we’ve got to save the game and worry about tomorrow first. It’s a case of obviously applying ourselves much like Pujara and Saha did today,” said Lehmann.

“He’s very disciplined and played really well. That’s why he is a class player. He bats for a long period of time. His conversion rate from 50 to 100 and 100 to 150 are pretty high. When he gets in, he likes to go on with it. That’s a challenge for our bowling group. To find a way to get him out early,” Darren Lehmann conceded.