Last Updated:December 15, 2024, 10:55 IST

Former Australia batter Simon Katich called it a ‘dumb show’ from Siraj for bowling short deliveries to Siraj without a fielder at deep third man.

The post-lunch session on the second day of the Gabba Test saw Travis Head and Steve Smith smothering the Indian bowling attack. While Smith roared back to form with a gritty fifty – his first in the ongoing series, Head notched up a second consecutive hundred as the duo added over 151 runs to the fourth wicket.

On the other hand, the Indian bowlers had no answers to the assault launched by the two Australian batters. Head dealt in boundaries while Smith took the cautious root. During the 60^th over of the innings, Mohammed Siraj bowled a short ball to Head which he ramped over third man for a one-bounce four. The shot looked gorgeous but not the delivery from Siraj which drew a critical reaction from Channel 7 commentator Simon Katich.

The former Australia batter called it a ‘dumb show’ from Siraj for bowling such a delivery without a fielder at deep third man.

“That is unbelievable from Siraj because the over before, he had a man right in that spot and he’s running and bowled what they were planning without the fielder there. That is dumb, dumb cricket,” Katich said on air.

“They got two men out on the leg side. They got a deep point. They had a man right in that spot for this very plan to Travis Head, and then he doesn’t have the fielder and now he’s going to put the fielder back down there right now. Horses bolted, buddy,” he added.

India had a wicketless second session with Travis Head and Steve Smith going all guns blazing with a rock-solid partnership. The duo added 159 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand as Indian bowlers hardly looked penetrative post-lunch.

Head smashed his ninth Test hundred and third against India. It came off just 115 balls with 13 boundaries to his credit. Smith on the other hand hit six boundaries. Jasprit Bumrah (2/51) and Nitish Reddy (1/33) got three wickets in the first couple of hours but success eluded the visitors in the post-lunch session.

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