WTC Final: Bowlers lacked discipline on Day 1 vs Australia, says India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey

India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey admitted bowlers lacked discipline on the opening day against Australia in the World Test Championship final on Wednesday. Australia ended the opening day at 327-3 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first.

In fact, India had Australia on the mat at 76-3 after Mohammed Shami cleaned up Marnus Labuschagne with a peach of delivery just after lunch. However, Travis Head was able to hit the ground running and took the attack against the Indian bowlers from the get-go.

The Indian seamers failed to hit the right areas in the second session as the Australian duo of Steve Smith and Travis Head added 97 runs. The Australian pair smashed 157 runs in the final session of play as they scored their runs at a run rate of 4.62.

Head scored an unbeaten knock of 146 runs off just 156 balls whereas Smith scored 95 runs to take Australia to a dominating position. The duo added an unbeaten alliance of 251 runs off 370 balls for the fourth wicket.

On the other hand, all the Indian bowlers conceded their runs at an economy rate of more than 3.40 as they could not hit the straps.

“In terms of the bowling, we could have been a little more disciplined. We started off very well. In the first 12-13 overs, we bowled in the right areas. But maybe after that, we kind of weren’t disciplined with our bowling. We conceded a little more than we would have preferred,” Paras Mhambrey told the press on Wednesday.

Mhambrey added that the pitch offered help for the seamers in the first hour of play but the track got flat as the day progressed, which made it difficult for India’s bowlers.

“The pitch did little bit in the morning. It seamed around a bit in the first hour. As the day progressed, the pitch got a little flatter than what we expected it would be,” he added.

The Indian bowling coach remained confident that the team can bounce back if they pick up early wickets on day two morning.

“Why not? (Can India bounce back?) I thought conditions.. The pitch got better. We took the second new-ball and there was some seam and movement of the pitch after that. Tomorrow morning is very important for us. If we pick up one or two early wickets, we definitely have the opportunity to come back into the contest,” he added.

Indian bowlers will need to come up with an improved show to help their team stay alive in the WTC Final.