Indian batsmen
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Indian batsmen continue to let their team down

Mustafa Ismail·
Test
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After years of dominance by the Indian batsmen, the situation has completed a 180° as it is now the bowlers who’re dominating while the batsmen disappoint…

India lost the second Test match of the series in Perth as the Australians came back hard and competed brilliantly to tie the series up at 1-1. The game was won on the first day of the match when Finch and Harris put up a 100-run opening stand that allowed Australia to reach 326. This turned out be an excellent score on a wicket that had favoured the pace bowlers throughout the game. The stand proved even more crucial as the Indian opening batsmen couldn’t even replicate 10% of that partnership – with scores of 8-2 and 13-2 in the two innings putting direct pressure on the middle-order.

They handled the situation well in the first innings as Virat Kohli, with the support of Pujara and Rahane, brought up his 25th century. His innings involved a huge amount of focus and determination at a time when Australia were dominating the game. The bowling was superb but Kohli accepted the challenge and buckled down to play an innings which defied his nature. However, the problem remained the same as India’s tail was long and plummeted from 223-4 to 283 all-out. In the second innings, the middle-order was not able to handle the pressure and the innings was wrapped up even earlier. On the other hand, if there has been a solid start from the Indian openers, the incoming batsmen would have been more confident about winning the game.

Yes, the tail is fragile – but the openers are not doing the team any favours by losing their wickets quickly and cheaply. If both Vijay and Rahul had put their minds to it, they could’ve pulled off a 50-80 run partnership. This would’ve guaranteed India the lead and put pressure back on Australia. Both batsmen were outdone by excellent deliveries, but they were not unplayable. Vijay left a huge gap between bat and pad and let the ball go through, while Rahul misjudged the line as he thought the ball would be shorter than it actually was. As professional batsmen, you need to have more disciplined technique and be able to grind out the tough periods – which Rahul and Vijay failed to do for India.

To make matters worse for India, they found out after losing the Test match that Pritvhi Shaw had been ruled out for the remainder of the series. Given the state of the opening partnership, this is a huge blow for India. However, Mayank Agarwal will be coming into the squad and should be put in straight into the XI. There have also been suggestions that instead of just replacing one Indian opener, they should replace both batsmen and allow either Parthiv Patel or Rohit Sharma to open with Mayank.

The team selection was questioned at the start of the Test with India opting for four fast bowlers and no spinner. Not playing the spinner didn’t cost India much as the likes of Bumrah and Shami did a fantastic job with the ball but they should’ve gone with Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the fourth seamer. With the pitch nice and green, Bhuvi would’ve had a chance at breaking Australia’s first wicket partnership by swinging the ball both ways. Vihari gave India more stability with a couple of good innings with the bat and some wickets with the ball, and will hopefully learn from his mistakes to further establish himself as an all-rounder.

Full credit goes to Australia for the way they’ve bounced back in the series. Their batsmen made minor adjustments after the first game and there is still room for improvement. It’s imperative for the batsmen to play a big innings once they’re set as they continue throwing their wickets away after getting to 50.  The Aussie bowlers were terrific, and their bowling quartet is amongst the best in the world right now, especially with Nathon Lyon spinning the ball so threateningly. All eyes will be on Boxing Day as both teams ready themselves for battle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), with fans rightfully expecting another humdinger of a match.