Australian fast-bowler Michael Neser has admitted, on Friday (31 August), that bowling on the Indian pitches is quite difficult for the pacers but said he is looking forward to do well with the red-ball in the upcoming four-day series against India A, starting from September 2 in Bangalore.
The 28-year-old pacer had a decent outing in the Quadrangular one-day series, featuring India A, B and South Africa A as his team reached the final but lost the title to India B. Though bowling on the unfamiliar track was difficult Neser did a brilliant job, finishing with 3/47 in the final.
Now, the Queenslander wants to shift his focus from quadrangular series to four-day games and wants to do well against India A.
As per reports in icc-cricket.com, Neser said, “It was tough conditions as a quick. It obviously favours the spin over here in India. It took out a lot, very hard wickets to bowl on. But if you do bowl well, you do get rewarded. The basics are the same for four-day and one-day cricket. Going into four-day focus, obviously variations are not going to be as vital, but the basics remain the same. We’ve got plenty of things to work on, and looking forward to the four-day series.”
Playing cricket in India means switching to the SG balls, which are not used in Australia or England but the pacer feels, “I’ve had a couple of training sessions with the SG ball, and it’s not too dissimilar to what we train with in Australia – we train with the Duke and the Kooka. I’m looking forward to bowling with this ball. It might scuff up a bit more, reverse might play a bit of a role in this fixture.”
Neser made his One Day International debut for Australia earlier this year in England, picking up two wickets in two matches, as well as, having a great time with Queensland in the last edition of the Sheffield Shield. He ended with 39 wickets at an average of 21.84 and wants to take a leaf from it against India B.
He signed off by saying, “Definitely I’ll take a lot out of my four-day Shield cricket. I don’t feel like it was too long ago. I’m looking forward to bowling in four-day cricket – I’m sure it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m up for that challenge. It might take a bit of focus here in India, but if it comes to me tying down an end, that’s going to be my role. Hopefully the wickets have a bit of assistance for the quicks, but if not, I’ll just do my role and do what I can.”
