Australia vs India: Tom Moody blasts hosts' show with bat

The insipid performance by the Australian batsmen in the third Test in Melbourne left former all-rounder Tom Moody upset and he blasted them over the lack of application against a disciplined Indian bowling attack. The hosts were struggling to save the crucial Test after getting bowled out for just 151 in their first essay, conceding a mammoth 292-run lead after India declared their innings at 443 for 7.

In the second innings, Australia were 138 for 5 at Tea chasing 399 to win. It was only the fourth day of the match. Australia have managed to score over 300 runs only once in seven innings so far (in the first innings in Perth) with none of their batsmen managing to score a hundred in the series till now with Usman Khawaja’s 72 being the highest.

For India, on the other hand, three centuries were already scored till the third Test with two of them coming from the bat of Cheteshwar Pujara and the other one from captain Virat Kohli.

Pujara has scored two hundreds in the series

Moody also made a mention about Pujara in his tweet criticising the Australian batting, saying the hosts just lacked the application that has been the “road map” for the most successful batsman of the series, which is Pujara. The Indian No.3 scored 123 in Adelaide when the chips were down and turned around the game for his side which eventually finished as the best in the game. He also hit 106 in Melbourne to ensure that India did not loosen the grip on the match after their new openers gave them a good start.

Australia have struggled in their batting ever since the ban of two of their major players – Steve Smith and David Warner – and have lost a number of series, both at home and away because of the poor show with the bat. If they lose the Melbourne Test, the hosts will come under immense pressure to win the final game in Sydney and stop India from winning their maiden Test series on their soil.

Here is Moody’s tweet

The hardest thing to accept is the way we’ve lost our wickets in this test. Little application shown which has been the “road map” for the most successful batsman of the series. #Pujara #AusvInd

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) December 29, 2018

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