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Harris outfoxed by short-ball tactic

Aussie opener seemingly forced into expansive shot against Bumrah early on day three in Melbourne

Having struck Marcus Harris on the helmet twice in as many Test innings, Indian quick Jasprit Bumrah again used the short ball to land the most telling blow of all this morning, dismissing the Australian opener early on day three at the MCG.

Bowling around the wicket, Bumrah struck Harris on the helmet late on day two of the third Domain Test as the left-hander looked to duck a short ball, a replica of an incident in the second innings in Perth last week.

Speaking in a Facebook Live chat on cricket.com.au before he resumed his innings this morning, Harris said he would look to play Bumrah's short balls rather than evade them for the rest of his innings, adding the inconsistent bounce of the MCG pitch contributed to the helmet blow on Thursday evening.

"Maybe with the wicket, the way it played, (I will) probably try and ride it a bit more," he said.

"I got one (bouncer) in the over after (I was hit in the helmet) and played it through backward square for one, so that might be the way I have to play it. I'll just play it as I see it.

"But with the wicket going up and down a bit, I'll probably have to play it more than duck it."

But India countered the Australian's plan this morning by employing two close catchers on the leg side about 15 metres from the batsman – one behind square and one in front. The same field was also used for fellow left-handers Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh when Bumrah was bowling from the Southern End.

Unable to confidently ride the ball into the leg side for a single due to those two close catchers, Harris instead launched a pull shot at a bouncer from Bumrah and top-edged a catch to Ishant Sharma on the fine-leg boundary.

Speaking before play, former Test batsman Mike Hussey told Fox Cricket that a hit to the helmet "does have a bit of a psychological blow" and they would "certainly be on (Harris') mind" during the rest of his innings.

And former Test opener Michael Slater suggested the helmet blows may have contributed to the left-hander being a little tentative when playing the pull shot.

"It begs the question whether he allowed that pull shot when he played it to be instinct," Slater said on Network Seven.

"The pull shot – when you play it well – is an instinct shot. The fact that he'd been peppered in that zone, time and time again, I reckon he was thinking about it. That's why you're just a little slow, you don't gauge the bounce as well. (It appeared to be) a bit of a forced effort."

Finch falls into India's trap

Speaking on Fox Cricket, former Test gloveman Adam Gilchrist added: "They planned well to Marcus Harris, hit on the helmet last night, they challenged the young left-hander on the short-pitched delivery again, he took it on and it brought about his downfall".

Harris, playing just his third Test, conceded Bumrah's unusual action and impressive pace made him a difficult bowler to counter.

"I've probably got to stop getting hit in the head, I think that's my third helmet (hit) in my third Test," he said with a smile, having required a new helmet after the blows in Perth and Melbourne.

"(His action) is a bit unusual and the wicket's staying down a little bit so that one didn't quite get up as much as I thought it was going to.

"He's just got an awkward action. He bowls pretty quick off a short run-up and doesn't feel like he puts a whole heap of effort into it.

"He's a bit skiddy so I might have to try and find a different way to play it today. I'll just watch the ball and play it as I see it."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Archie Schiller

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar