India vs Australia | Takeaways - A riveting day of Test cricket and Aussie pacers new-ball impact

India vs Australia | Takeaways - A riveting day of Test cricket and Aussie pacers new-ball impact

no photo

|

Getty

Today was a kind of day that purists talk about while revealing about nostalgia. Perth was missed, but the one-on-one battle that underlined this Test made sure that the next few days would be a superb day out for all the people who only dream about seeing a hard-fought attritional Test cricket.

First session set the template for the Test

India had a problem against cleaning up the tail and it is not an unknown statement anymore. Any person on the road would say that, even though Virat Kohli keeps on hiding behind the buzzword “intent” to make the issue look like nothing. Sure enough, he doesn’t need to accept it in front of the media, but in the change room, it must be discussed, ideas considered and a solution should be the main priority. Today that problem resurfaced once again, but India, for the first time in the overseas Test series this year, worked with a plan to get rid of them. To understand that, we need to go back to the first day’s strategy.

The absence of a frontline spinner meant India needed to utilise the new ball on a green-looking pitch and they failed in that count. Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah landed more deliveries in the good line and length despite Perth showing more signs of swing and bounce than Adelaide. They bowled more half-volleys on a wicket that demanded them to bowl just full deliveries and not half-volleys. 

After the wicket being rolled in the morning, the pitch was at its best in the first hour and needed bowlers to do more than just bowling full balls. However, they erred in their lengths again on the second morning and weren’t quite threatening the stumps on a pitch offering variable bounce. People were going angry over the fact that why Kohli wasn’t bringing Bumrah, who could unsettle them. However, Kohli probably made up his mind to unleash his trump-card once the track loosens up a bit and becomes easy for bowling while allowing Ishant to build pressure on Tim Paine with the barrage of bouncers. When Bumrah came in and dismissed Paine, things got easier, and two full balls resulted in the last two wickets. Quite orthodox a plan, but Australia would take a clue from this while coming for the third day.

Optus provides a day of good-old Test cricket

A disclaimer. I have never been to Australia and although watching a Test match at Old WACA Stadium was always one of my dreams, it has been shattered now. The magic of WACA has been sent to the history books, but if Cricket Australia decide to write another chapter to make it spicier and juicier, then they well can add the Optus one to it and give it a fine touch. The Test has everything that Perth is known for and the second day just added one sweet chapter to it. 

After Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were dismissed by two full balls by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, it gave Australia ideas against Kohli. Hazlewood bowled four fuller balls and the Indian skipper took 13 runs in one over. Australia surely didn’t expect that counter-attack from someone who takes his own sweet time to get going and that threw the home team's straight line to danger. Australia then tried to regain the control through Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins and made Kohli sterile for a while. At one point, the offie had just conceded one run off 19 balls while the corresponding numbers for the Kohli-Cummins battle was 1 off 17 balls. Cummins bowled a line outside off stump and tested Kohli’s patience but the Indian skipper was equal to the task – putting his attacking shots away.

While that was the best-vs-best battle, Kohli made Australia suffer thanks to his tremendous mental strength. He hardly took a run when the ball landed on good line and length, but if that was a fraction shorter or went a bit fuller, he used his feet and wrist to send them away. At the same time, he didn’t even try to attack Lyon and left alone 12% of his deliveries, a huge achievement considering he was turning the ball back into him. Winning a Test match can never happen single-handedly, but the beauty of the red-ball format is it gives a chance to indulge yourself in a one-to-one battle. Today was one such day, a fine exhibition of Test cricket.

The new-ball usage may prove to be the difference

As Sidharth Monga explained beautifully in this copy for Cricinfo, toss advantage has gone beyond the home advantage in Test cricket and it has almost become a norm to bat first because batting in the fourth innings has become as difficult as a Sri Lanka win in a cricket match. Well, I am not talking about their Emerging Asia Cup team. 

Yesterday, when Tim Paine won the toss, he didn’t have to think anything and chose to bat first directly despite the grass present in the stadium indicating that Indian players could generate some sort of assistance. However, Indian bowlers, in the opening ten overs, could not get to work as a unit. With the ball moving through the air and moving off the pitch, Ishant and Bumrah were unable to find the right areas, and test the Australian batsmen. Just 31% of India’s deliveries in that first 10 overs were on a good line and length and they bowled extremely full as well. Although they corrected in the latter half of the game, they had wasted the new ball. 

However, Australia, despite bowling on a more deteriorated pitch, didn’t commit the same mistake today. They managed to extract swing and seam movement off the pitch, not even more than that of India’s but bowled with more pace. Cricviz data backs it up. Australia’s average speed was 5 kph faster than Indian bowlers and they constantly hit over 140 kph and downed India to 8/2. Sure enough, they could take only one more wicket after that, but they never lost the basics and threatened to take the game away from India. With the lush green outfield, it will be very difficult for them to reverse the ball, so the early wickets would keep them in good stead.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all