IND vs AUS: ‘Clinical’ with gloves, Alex Carey wants to be as effective with the bat in final Test

Clinical behind the wickets in the recently-concluded Indore Test that Australia won by nine wickets, keeper Alex Carey is keen on being equally effective with the bat in hand in the final Test in Ahmedabad, which is scheduled to start on March 9th. The left-handed Carey earned praises from head coach Andrew McDonald, who believes Australia was in control of the game from ball one at the Holkar Stadium.

Carey, who stumped India’s captain Rohit Sharma in the first innings in the previous Test and conceded only three byes throughout the game, told reporters on Sunday that before travelling to India he actually spoke with some of the past stumpers taking notes of how to make the most of his chance on the Indian tracks.

“I speak to guys regularly who’ve played for Australia in terms of (Brad) Haddin and (Adam) Gilchrist and Ian Healy’s always in the corner there,” Carey told reporters on Sunday, as quoted by the Reuters. “I think our training wickets have been really difficult as well so it’s been nice to actually stand in a training wicket and keep to our bowlers. You don’t always do that in Australia, the nets are a bit shorter, and you probably go about your business more standing back,” he added.

Despite winning the Indore Test, Carey believes Australia’s batting hasn’t been up to the mark and has lagged behind in comparison to India’s batting that clearly has dominated so far in the Border-Gavaskar series.

Admitting to have not contributed enough with the bat and considering the series is also on line in the final Test, Carey looks confident in turning the tables around and give Aussie tail something to fight for.

“We know that we haven’t given enough at the tail there,” Carey said. “We also understand that India’s batting line-up’s very, very strong. We’ll have those conversations about how we can navigate and try to get 10-15 runs each more.”

Although India had already retained the marquee Border-Gavaskar series following a win in the Delhi Test, they still haven’t secured their place in the finals of the World Test Championship; however, Australia has punched their ticket with a big win in the previous Test and will look to spoil India’s plans with yet another win under Steven Smith in Ahmedabad.