After 6-wicket haul, Steve O'Keefe admits luck favoured Australia in 'nick or miss' battle with India

New Delhi: Australian left-arm orthodox spinner Steve O'Keefe considered Indian batsmen unlucky to have edged the his diliveries on a number of occasion, while Australian batsmen rode the 'luck' vehicle when their turn came and hence lasted longer.

The Malayasia-born spinner also expressed astonishment seeing how quickly he was able to pick up wickets.

“It’s amazing how things can quickly change over here. I was none for 30 off nine overs, probably didn’t bowl very well at all in my first six overs. And then, it all just happened really quickly, and I guess that’s the sort of wicket it is.

“We played and missed a lot of balls and fortunately for us, they nicked them and we caught them. So it was a good day to be a part of and well finished off by the batters,” said O’Keefe after finishing with figures of six for 35. 

READ: IND vs AUS, 1st Test Day 2 - Scorecard | Report | As it happened...

The 32-year-old said India, who were shot out for 105 in reply to Australia’s first innings score of 260, thanks to his heroics, can still fight back with three days left.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. It will, if that contributes to a win. Right now, we’ll enjoy we had a good day, but that’s all it is. It was a good day’s cricket. We all know how good this Indian team is, how well they can bat, and even in spinning conditions they are exceptional players.

“They’re all match winners, they’re top seven, you’d even argue Jadeja, the top 8, so we have our work cut out for us. We are 300 ahead, let’s get more and let’s create 10 chances tomorrow and hold on to it,” he said.

O’Keefe, who created mayhem after change of ends, said it was just looking at India’s Ravichandran Ashwin bowling his overs from the opposite end that helped in deciding to ask his team’s offie, the experienced Nathan Lyon, to do so.

“We were debating it in the changing rooms. Mitchell Starc and I didn’t really care which end we bowled at. The idea was for Mitch to create some footmarks for Nathan outside off stump at that end, so I think the move was just to bowl Nathan from that end because that’s the end that Ashwin’s bowled his overs from.

“(Ravindra) Jadeja probably bowled most of his overs at that (his own) end, so it was just good fortune, I guess. When I started to bowl my first six overs, I think I went probably back to my comfort zone, which is what I bowl in Australia. It was just probably going a bit over the top and whenever I was trying to bowl quick, it was too full. It was ordinary bowling the first six overs. I’d been working in the nets with some other variations, just changing the seam angle and arm angle. It made all the difference,” he explained.

He also expressed delight seeing the pitch offering so much support to spinners, contrary to the nature of pitches in Australia.

“It’s always nice to see a spinning wicket. You don’t get to see it too often back in Australia. But in saying that, you know in seeing a wicket like that, there’s going to be a lot of onus and you’re going to have to carry a lot of workload. Heavy lifting has to be done by spinners on that wicket.

“We are just fortunate we’ve got someone like Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood, two of the best bowlers in the world, who can back you up. And their time will come for sure, whether the ball’s reversing or moving sideways. So it’s nice to see spinning conditions, but you know you have a job to do.”

O’Keefe agreed that the team was over the top with the dismissal of India’s in-form captain Virat Kohli for a second-ball duck for the first time at home.

“I think my expression says it all when you look at the footage. I think I was more excited than Starcy. I was running around and the wheels are spinning only because you know how good he is and regardless of the conditions this guy is an out-and-out star.

“We’ve got to be on our game in the next innings. To knock him over for a duck is great fortune for us and we’re going to have to do that consistently over the next four Tests.”

Kohli, who came into the game on the back of scoring four double hundreds in the last five series, was out chasing a wide ball from Mitchell Starc to be caught at first slip by his Australian counterpart Smith.

O’Keefe also praised captain Steve Smith for backing him and former India left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram for guiding him how to bowl on the Indian pitches as the Australian team’s spin bowling coach.

“I know what I’ve got and how to go about using what I’ve got. I think the important thing is I’ve well backed up by Steve Smith, I think he’s a brilliant captain. When you play under a captain who shows a lot of belief in you, it’s amazing what can happen.

“I’ve got a good coach who tapped me on the head in between sessions and he’s not afraid to tell it to your face and tell it to you straight, which is excellent. I think Sree is an excellent spin-bowling coach. I’ve worked with him a couple times now and he’s really impressive, so that’s really helped me, I think,’ he said.

“Again, Sree is like ‘let’s go out and bowl till you feel comfortable with it and then hit it on. Let’s start in the next innings.’ It worked out this time,” O’Keefe added when asked what prompted him to go to the middle and practice during lunch time.