Australia debutant relives maiden outing against India
Beau Webster was handed his debut cap ahead of the fifth Border-Gavaskar Test in Sydney.
A change in Australia’s playing XI for the final Test saw 31-year-old Beau Webster make his international debut. A seasoned campaigner, Webster has spent over a decade on the domestic circuit, amassing more than 5000 runs and nearly 150 wickets in first-class cricket.
Opening up on his maiden outing against India on Friday in Sydney, Webster relived the moments that made it special.
“It was a great day. A really proud day to get my family down here in Sydney, and to get my cap from junior (Mark Waugh), was a really proud moment for me and my family,” he said.
“To get in the game early with some catches early was definitely a way to settle the nerves and they went away pretty quickly after that.”
Webster made an instant impact in the field as he held onto the catches of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli with Australia dominating the majority of the opening day.
The right-arm quick almost managed to dismiss Kohli earlier in the day, but the catch pouched by Steve Smith in the cordon wasn’t ruled clean on the third umpire’s check.
Webster, however, stated that on his maiden day as a Test, his match-up against Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja favoured him.
“I do like a bit of seam movement in the wicket and it did feel like I was close a lot of times against both the left-handers in Pant and Jadeja.
“I was trying to wrestle Patty to keep the ball in my hand as much as I could. It felt like I was in a good rhythm and that I could get a breakthrough for us.”
For Australia, Scott Boland finished with a four-wicket haul, taking his tally in the ongoing series to 15 scalps from three Tests.
“I thought Scotty was excellent. He’s been excellent since he’s come back into the team and showed why he’s a world class bowler,” Webster said. “I thought all the bowlers were really good today, to bowl them out under 200.”
With India restricted for 185, Australia came in to bat for the final three overs of the day and were handed a blow by Jasprit Bumrah on the final delivery before Stumps.
Lavishing praise on India’s pace spearhead, Webster conceded that Bumrah holds the key to the game come Day 2 in Sydney.
“Jasprit is a world-class bowler, no doubt about that, he’s going to challenge our batting group. He’s phenomenal with his lengths and his lines. It is going to be tough on a wicket that’s going to offer fair bit to him.”