One popular dohe (couplet) attributed to Sant Kabir Das talks about acting too late after the damage has already been done, "ab pachtaye hote kya, chidiya chug gayi khet". Loosely, it means 'the bird has already eaten up the field, so what's the point of regret?' (Day 2 Blog | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
Ex-Aussie Star Slams India For 'Dumb Cricket' As Travis Head Scores Another Ton
Head, 30, once again proved to be India's nemesis as the Australian batter hit another century to help the hosts take control of the third Test match being played at The Gabba
On Sunday, during the second day's play of the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test match in Brisbane, an Aussie taunted the touring Indians with a similar saying "The horse has bolted." Here, the horse is Travis Head, a player who has taken a liking to the Indian attack. Remember his century in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against India, in front of a packed Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad!
Head, 30, once again proved to be India's nemesis as the Australian batter hit another century to help the hosts take control of the third Test match being played at The Gabba.
Following a rain-affected opening day's play which witnessed 13.2 overs, Australia resumed Day 2 from their overnight score of 28/0. It soon read 75/3 in 34.2 overs. Jasprit Bumrah removed both openers Usman Khawaja (21) and Nathan McSweeney (9) in his successive overs, and then Nitish Kumar Reddy got the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne (12).
The arrival of Head, however, changed the course of the play. He punished a seemingly lifeless Indian attack with a fluent ton, his third in seven innings against India. Head added 241 runs in 302 balls for the fourth wicket with former captain Steve Smith.
During a whirlwind 160-ball knock for 152 runs, Head hit 18 fours including one ramped over third man in Mohammed Siraj's 13th over, effectively exploiting India's unimaginative fielding setting. And India drew severe criticism from commentators, especially former Aussie opener Simon Katich.
"That is unbelievable from Mohammed Siraj because an over before he had a man right in that spot (third man) and he's run in and bowled what they were planning without a fielder there," Katich said, highlighting Rohit Sharma's poor field setting. "That is dumb, dumb cricket. Now he's going to put the fielder back down there. The horse has bolted, buddy."
India, of course, hit back to take three quick wickets, those of Smith (101), Mitchell Marsh (5), and Head -- all falling to Bumrah. But that damage was already done. At the end of the second day, Australia were 405/7 in 101 overs.
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India won the tour opener by 295 runs in Perth, but the Aussies made it 1-1 with a 10-wicket victory in the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide, a match effectively settled by Travis Head's almost run-a-ball 140 in the first innings.
The five-match BGT 2024-25 will continue with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, starting December 26. India's tour of Australia ends with the New Year's Test in Sydney, from January 3, 2025.
Both India and Australia are in contention to make the final of the ICC World Test Championship final. The Pat Cummins-led Aussies are the defending champions, while India are two-time finalists.
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