Andrew McDonald labels India's lower order as a huge threat to Australia
Axar Patel in action [Source: AP]
When Australia landed on Indian shores, fans and experts had expected them to give India a run for their money in the Test series.
However, putting all anticipations to rest, the visitors suffered a demoralising defeat in the first Test in Nagpur, as the hosts crushed them by an inning and 132 runs.
Although Australia got rid of veteran batters KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, India's lower order emerged as a headache for them, playing a pivotal role in powering them to 400 in the first innings.
While all-rounder Axar Patel hammered 84 runs, Mohammed Shami's counterattacking 37 prevented the Aussies from wrapping the Indian innings quickly.
So, Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald believes India's lower order will continue to haunt them in the series.
"Their (India's) lower-order batting is also going to be a differentiator in this series. In Jadeja, Patel and Ashwin, they've got a really strong lower-order and we're going to be challenged by that. They're no doubt going to have more runs available to their lower order than ours, so we've got to try to work out how to break even in that sense."
The former Victorian all-rounder also held their first-innings collapse as a key reason behind the Nagpur humiliation.
However, with still three Tests to go, the 41-year-old backed his troops to bounce back in the series.
"We didn't maximise our first innings and when you get behind in the subcontinent it's a long way back and things can happen fast and that's what we saw play out. It's a four-Test series so there's a long way to go. The planning and preparation that went into it, we still feel that can work and we've got some quality players in the change room that can get us back on the right side."
Trailing by one-nil, the Aussies will look to make a comeback in the series when they face the robust Indian team in the second Test in Delhi starting this Friday.
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