Published: Jan 12, 2016, 07:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 12, 2016, 07:15 PM (IST)
At a time when Australia are persisting with seasoned cricketers across formats, keeping the young on hold, the right-handed batsman George Bailey has shown that he too is ready to throw his hat in the ring for Test cricket. Having already given up the Australian Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) captaincy to focus on longer formats and fulfill his desire to play Test cricket for Australia, Bailey has time and again shown that he can be one of the members of the ‘Dad’s Army’ and serve his country with runs, just like Adam Voges. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Australia 2015-16, 1st ODI at Perth
The first One-Day International (ODI) against India was one of those occasions when Bailey proved that apart from possessing a calm persona and a good cricketing brain, there is tremendous hunger inside him to make heaps of runs and fight till the end to keep playing international cricket for Australia.
Bailey walked in to bat when Australia were in a spot of bother — the scoreboard read 21 for 2 and they were up against a charged up Indian bowling attack that included an unknown entity in Barinder Sran. The left-armer got to make his debut at Perth, and he took the opportunity with both the hands. Sran created initial troubles for Australia, and even managed to snaffle two wickets. He nearly had third to his kitty but the umpire Richard Kettleborough wasn’t moved. Cricket Blog & Score Updates: India vs Australia 2015-16, 1st ODI at Perth
Bailey made most of the lifeline as he notched up his third century in his 63rd ODI for Australia. While the number of ODI appearances and centuries scored do not tell the story of Bailey being the right choice, it must be remembered that rarely he has been perceived as a middle-order batsman.
But on Tuesday, the scenario was different. He came in at No. 4, facing the challenge to not only justify his selection, but also the position as which he walked out to bat. The series against India presents stern test not only to the young Australians in Joel Paris and Scott Boland, but also to someone like Bailey who have been at crossroads for far too long. Paris and Boland may have been on a suffering end, but Bailey made most of the opportunity. लाइव क्रिकेट ब्लॉग, हिन्दी में: भारत बनाम ऑस्ट्रेलिया, पहला एकदिवसीय, वाका, पर्थ में
Bailey added 242 runs with Steven Smith, and charted the way for the third highest successful run chase in Australia. Knowing the pressure that was there early on, Bailey took charge of the proceedings and made sure there were no more slip ups. He batted with lot of ease against the spinners as well as the seamers, and provided Smith the support and confidence that the Australian captain would be seeking from the No. 4 batsman.
Making his national debut as a captain, Bailey has been around the Australian side for a while now, and despite averaging well over 40 in ODIs, he has never been able to cement his position. He was a part of the Ashes 2013-14 winning squad, and the only one to be axed for their next tour of South Africa. Even though he may have failed to hold on to his spot in the Test side, Bailey can push to feature in the Australian side that is going through lot of changes.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
