NEW DELHI: The depth of India’s batting proved decisive in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series but Australia’s lower order has not contributed much in the series so far and this is where Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey wants to be equally effective with the bat.
Carey’s neat glovework in the third Test earned him praise from coach Andrew McDonald who said Carey put on “an absolute clinic” in Nagpur, where Australia triumphed by nine wickets to bounce back after back-to-back defeats in Nagpur and Delhi.
Carey conceded three byes in the match and stumped India captain Rohit Sharma, giving, McDonald believes, Australia “control of the game”.
The 31-year-old said he spoke to several former Australia stumpers before arriving in India.

“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.
“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.”

Carey’s plot to sweep his way out of trouble has not worked so far.
“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.”

The fourth and final Test begins in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
(With agencies inputs)