Tahlia McGrath: Though pacer Pooja Vastrakar was the most successful bowler for India with 4-53 on the opening day of the only Test of the series, Australia Women team allrounder Tahlia McGrath expects spin to play a pretty big role in the ongoing Wankhede Test.
McGrath said though Vastrakar landed the early blows, it was the Indian spinners who turned the tide in favour of the hosts.
“It was like crazy how much the game turned for me personally when spin came on. I felt reasonably comfortable at the wicket with pace. And then as soon as spin came on, it was a big challenge, partly because, we’re not used to these conditions. It was keeping low and the spinners were extremely disciplined,” said McGrath in the end-of-the-day press conference on Thursday.
She said Australian spinners Ashleigh Gardner and Jess Jonassen also got assistance when they came in to bowl towards the end of the day and has high expectations from them.
“Like I said, and you could see as well, today when Ash and Jono took the ball, it slightly turned for them as well. So I expect, spin to play a pretty big role in this Test. But in saying that, Vastrakar took four and every time she came into the attack looked like a real threat. So, there’s still a time and a place for pace in the game. It’s just executing plans,” she said.
McGrath said she and the other Australian pacers were not getting quite as much swing as Pooja Vastrakar. But expected to more from the surface early on the second day.
“Absolutely. we weren’t getting quite as much swing as we would have liked upfront. She (Pooja) was extremely clever with how she approached it, and the sorts of subtle changes that she made. About how you can hold the same shape when you turn them away, were little things we talked about as a bowling group. We might have missed a slight trick there, and we were a little bit slow to react. So certainly looking at what worked for her and what works for our individual bowlers as well,” said McGrath.
