Australia vs India — Batting Horror Show Hands Hosts the First Test
19 December 2020. Day 3 of the first pink ball test of India’s tour of Australia. After gaining the upper hand in a low scoring first innings, India succumbed to their lowest ever total in test cricket — 36 — as a superb bowling showcase from Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins completely flipped the match on its head and gave the hosts the lead in the series. It was a day to forget for the Indians, but one that would be talked about for ages to come. It was the lowest score in a test innings for India, the lowest ever since 1955. Touted as one of the best squads in Test cricket right now, it was a surprise to the entire cricketing world as Virat and his men had no answer to the Ausssies’ stellar bowling display. It was one of those days where the batsman nicked everything, the bowlers’ line and length were on point and the fielders never missed a catch. But still, can’t a lineup of India’s caliber put at least a respectable score on the board. What went wrong? Is this the lowest point in India’s test history?
Pink ball test — A bowlers game?
The first innings saw plenty of wickets while the batsmen found it difficult to put runs on the board. The bowling from both sides was disciplined, not giving the batsmen the freedom to score, maintaining the pressure from both ends until the batsmen cracked one by one. Batting first, India lost both the openers pretty soon. Prithvi Shaw walked back to the pavilion moments after the umpire called play. The experience of Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane got India to 244.
The Indian bowlers were just as good as the Aussies, restricting Australia to just 191. Ashwin proved the critics wrong, as he took 4 wickets including that of the world’s best test batsman, one of his best bowling figures outside of the subcontinent. Tim Paine and Labuschane’s knocks made sure Australia limited India’s lead to 53 runs.
The Australian wickets, with the bounce and the movement that they offer, are always tough to play for a batsman, and not many batsmen can say they’ve mastered the art of playing down under. Being on the front foot at the start of day 3, India’s implosion could very well be blamed on the players’ front foot. Even Michael Hussey agrees. “Indian batsmen, in general, don’t like to get that big stride in forward, which sometimes you need to do on Australian pitches. They were sort of getting the half stride forwards. Virat Kohli is probably the exception; he is someone who is very confident with his footwork,” Hussey said on ESPNCricinfo. “But when the bowlers are getting the ball a lot fuller, and there is not a lot of footwork from the Indian batsmen, that’s where lies the opportunity to get a lot of nicks and that’s what happened.”
It was uncanny how similar each dismissal was in the top order. After the nightwatchman Bumrah was dismissed, the “dependable” Indian top order fell in a matter of minutes.
Both Hazlewood and Cummins were spot on with their bowling, locking the batsman, not giving them enough space and forcing them to knick the ball just outside off stump. Hazlewood has bowled 51 percent of his deliveries in the “test zone” — just outside off, good length forcing the batsman to play — since 2015.
Despite having big names like Kohli, Pujara, and Rahane, no one could play the role of anchor in one end. With wickets falling at both ends, the fans watched in silence as Hazlewood and Cummins decimated the Indian lineup. India never had bowlers who could bat and that is evident in moments like these. Bumrah, who scored a fifty in the practice game, was promoted as a night watchman and ended up starting India’s spiral. Although it looked like he had a better defence than half the Indian top order.
Team Selection
To start things off, India never settled on an opening pair to give them the perfect start. Experimenting with some young guns, the skipper finally decided to bet on Prithvi Shaw without any good performances in the practice games to back the decision. It was a surprise to see Shaw in the 11 when Gill was in a better form. It was a poor bet as Shaw disappointed in both innings, being the first to fall in either innings. He was also abysmal on the field, his place in the 11 in the upcoming games is a big question mark after this horrendous display. Being in amazing form in the limited-overs games, it is unclear as to why KL Rahul couldn’t find a place in the team. It won’t be a surprise if Pant replaces Saha, who didn’t have a particularly eventful game, in the next match. The selectors have quite a task picking the right squad for the subsequent games. With Kohli gone and Rahane leading in his stead, it will be interesting to see how India patch things up and try to salvage this series, and getting the team combination right is just the first step.
If India wants to salvage this series, they need to change the way they bat. Without Kohli, Pujara and Rahane have to step up and deliver good knocks. As far as the bowling is concerned, Shami is ruled out of the series after suffering a blow in the first game. Siraj will be replacing him. India needs to move past this embarrassment and find a way to get back in the series.
