Not surprising to see Gambhir bat like this: Doherty

The pick of the Australian bowlers Xavier Doherty found nothing "surprising" in Gautam Gambhir's century since the left-hander is a class act against slow bowlers. "Gambhir played beautifully. He is a very good batsman and extremely good player of spin bowling. Therefore, it was not surprising in the manner he batted today," left-arm spinner Doherty told mediapersons after end of first day's play against India A. The spin trio of Nathan Lyon, Doherty and Ashton Agar conceded 244 runs in 49 overs and the left-armer agreed that they didn't perform well. "It was not the best day for spinners. In tour matches, we work out these things to see how it is going. Today was not a great day for our spin group. We did not start well today but gradually we will start working. Like I said, we played the two matches to assess the condition which is probably different," he opined. Rookie left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was clobbered for 78 runs in 13 overs and Doherty defended the youngster terming it as a "learning experience for him." "I guess it was a step up in class today for Ashton with three spinners down in the middle. Probably, Ashton struggled more compared to us as he is the youngest in the group. It is a great learning experience for him. It is a great opportunity for him to bowl against class players." Doherty admitted that the line and length was in disarray once Gambhir and Rohit started taking the spinners. "Our spinners really did struggle when those two guys were coming hard at us. It is a pretty good wicket and very fast and possible 30 or 40 runs would have been par for the day." MORE