Gilchrist asks Australian batters to stay longer at crease against Bumrah

The legendary Adam Gilchrist has advised the beleaguered Australian batters to stay longer at the crease to nullify the threat posed by the Jasprit Bumrah-led Indian bowling attack in the pink-ball second Test. The swashbuckling former keeper-batter also backed the out-of-sorts Marnus Labuschagne to regain form. After Bumrah scythed through the Australian batting line-up, taking eight wickets including a five-for in the first innings at Perth, Gilchrist advised the hosts to “weather the storm”. Steve Smith and Labuschagne, the team’s two batting mainstays, flopped in the series opener and that did not help Australia’s cause. “Marnus had the onus to do that (stay at crease) and tried at good effect to nullify 50-odd deliveries. So, if you face an average of 50 deliveries every Test innings, you’re probably going to be on the right side of the ledger more than you’re on the wrong side of it,” Gilchrist said. “He just couldn’t find a way to score and maybe that’s what (the Australians) as a collective will look to try and do. It will bring with it risk, for sure, but it is a risk for reward.”