The Indian cricket team suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in Test cricket after being bowled out for its lowest ever score of 36 runs against Australia in Adelaide on Saturday. The pink-ball test match was wrapped up in less than three days, exposing the chinks in India's batting line-up. The fact that three batsmen returned with 'ducks' and none in the team could reach double figures in the second innings, including captain Virat Kohli, showed sheer lack of intent, planning and application of mind.
The Indian team which held its ground with a slender first innings lead was taken off-guard with the pace and swing of the Australian seamers exposing the batting technique of the new and veterans alike. Batting in Australian conditions with grass-topped bouncy pitches is always challenging. In Adelaide, the Indians who have been too much accustomed to the shorter-format back home failed to calibrate and space themselves to the longer version of cricket falling like nine pins to the pace of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
In such testing situations, a completely different strategy was needed, and the team management should have had a backup plan, especially for relatively newer players like over-hyped Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal. Players bowled through bat-pad or caught-behind nicking away-going deliveries in both innings exposed the rustiness and team’s failure to adapt to pacey wickets.
Another highlight of the pathetic show has been the dismal fielding with catches dropped galore. A total of five catches were dropped by Indian fielders in the Australian first innings, and this shows the sloppiness. Except for the superlative bowling performance of Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah restricting the Aussies to 191 in the first innings, there is nothing that the visitors can find comforting.
With skipper Kohli returning home on paternity leave, and fast bowler Mohammed Shami ruled out after a wrist injury from a scorching bouncer from Cummins, India face a monumental challenge of warding the challenge down under and bounce back in the four-match Test series. The team will have to redraw strategies going into the second test commencing on December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. There are indications that at least four changes are on the cards. Again, making wholesale changes reflects panic in the management. Players still need to adjust, you can't expect newcomers to go all guns blazing right from the first match they face. Dropping players based on one failure could be unfair to some.
Kohli's team has achieved success in the T20 matches, but Test matches call for perseverance to stay at the crease for longer sessions, sometimes extending days. Conceding defeats within three days have lately become a trend, especially in overseas conditions. The previous two defeats within three days came against New Zealand earlier this year. Also, the team has to brush up in the catching department. In international cricket, dropping sitters is inexcusable and can cost matches. The role of fielding coach R Sridhar which has already received flak will come under the scanner in the coming days.
