Australia coach Justin Langer was mighty happy that his team managed to scalp the important wicket of Indian opener Rohit Sharma, as India finished the day 4 on 98/2, still needing 309 runs to win the SCG Test.
Sharma scored his maiden fifty as an opener outside India but was caught by Mitchell Starc off the bowling of Pat Cummins in the closing stages of day four. His fellow opener Shubman Gill (31) also looked good as the pair added 71 runs for the 1st wicket before Hazlewood claimed Gill’s wicket.
"It was a bit of a relief for us to see Rohit Sharma out there in the end, that's a huge wicket for us because we know he's a world-class player. We know he's one of the all-time great one-day players so if he was out there, he's going to keep scoring quickly,” Langer said at the virtual post-day press conference.
"There's very little in this wicket, we've seen that throughout the whole Test match. Great credit to the bowlers but we're going to have to squeeze really hard, keep the pressure on, and hopefully the ball will start spinning a bit more again tomorrow for Nathan Lyon.
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"And we'll just keep doing what we're doing. There's a little bit of variable bounce, hopefully, that plays a part for us tomorrow as well," said Langer.
Langer picked Lyon as his key bowler on day 5 and said, “It's spinning a little bit. It's been quite slow, too. I mentioned to all the players this morning but particularly made the point to Nathan in front of all the players. I thought he bowled particularly well in the first innings without luck, he might get a little bit more luck in the second dig. He'll play a big part.”
Langer was also all praise for his bowling unit.
"When you've got a bowling attack as we've got at the moment, I'm actually in awe of it. To see the way our fast bowlers are going about their business and to have Nathan Lyon (and) have a young kid called Cameron Green who can play a real role for us now and into the future.
"I'm in awe of our attack. Let's hope they get the job done tomorrow," he added.
The head coach also praised Cameron Green, who made 84 runs which proved vital for Australia.
"A lot of people have talked about those sixes he (Green) hit but I just thought his whole innings, the way he was driving the ball down the ground, was looking to push and hit ones, he looks like a real class act. It would be a relief for him to get his first Test 50, would've been nice to get a few more and get his first Test 100 but he's a great guy to have around and he's doing a good job," Langer added.
(PTI inputs)
