AUS A vs IND A: In the second unofficial Test between Australia A and India A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), former England seamer Stuart Broad took a sly dig at Australia A batter Marcus Harris, who stood his ground after edging a delivery to first slip on Day 2.
Commenting on an Instagram reel shared by Cricket Australia, Broad wrote, “I’d have walked for that.”
In the 43rd over of the match, Tanush Kotian deceived Harris with flight, causing the ball to spin past his edge and land in the hands of a sharp Devdutt Padikkal at first slip. The Indian fielders appealed confidently but were left stunned when the umpire ruled Harris not out. Harris himself remained at the crease.
Reflecting on the incident, Harris was quoted by cricket.com.au as saying, “The boys said they watched the replays 20 times and couldn’t really tell (if it was out).”
He added, “The god’s honest truth was I wasn’t sure. If they reviewed it and it showed I hit it and got caught, I would have gone, ‘Yep, fair enough.’”
Tanush Kotian has later showed his displeasure on Instagram calling the decision “horrible.”
At the time of the incident, Harris was batting on 48. He went on to score a resilient 74, top-scoring for Australia A before being dismissed by Prasidh Krishna.
A hopeful for a Test recall after a three-year hiatus, Harris is a strong contender to partner Usman Khawaja in the Test series against India. He faced a challenging spell from India A’s impressive pace attack, managing only five boundaries during his innings. He credited his Victoria coach, former Test opener Chris Rogers, for advice on adapting to challenging conditions.
“It was probably something that ‘Bucky’ (Rogers) said … to the whole batting group at Victoria, just about if the wicket’s doing a little bit, you don’t always have to look to hit it for four. Look to hit it for two,” said Harris.
“It’s just something simple that resonated with me a little bit. Sometimes you come out and smack boundaries. Then days like today, I think I hit one four.”
“I’ve definitely been able to keep the scoreboard ticking over a lot more than what I have (in the past), and maybe that’s just subconsciously not looking to hit the ball so hard.”
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