IND vs AUS | Cannot see India bouncing back in the series after Adelaide humiliation, states Brad Haddin

12/21/2020

Brad Haddin believes India’s best chance of winning a Test in this series was the Adelaide encounter, and now feels it’s next to impossible for them to stage a comeback. Haddin claimed that India’s batting depth is ‘concerning’ and reckons there are a lot of questions that need answering.

The general consensus prior to the first Test was that, with Virat Kohli leaving, India needed to win in Adelaide to stand a chance of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And after clinching a 53-run first innings lead, they looked on their way to doing so. But an astonishing hour of madness in the afternoon of Day 3 saw India remarkably get bundled out for 36 and lose the game in two and a half days.

With no Virat Kohli, and with the flat MCG and SCG pitches bound to favour the hosts, the odds are well and truly stacked against the Indians, and former Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin believes it’s a mountain they will not be able to climb. Haddin echoed the general sentiment and stressed that India ‘needed’ to win in Adelaide at all costs, and claimed that he now simply cannot see the visitors turning the tables around.

"I don't think they will (recover from the loss). I thought their only opportunity to win a Test match was the first Test at Adelaide,” Haddin told SEN Radio, reported TOI.

"I thought the conditions suited their bowling and I thought they'd get enough runs. But I don't think they'll be able to turn it around. You've got one Test up at Brisbane where no one beats Australia. These next two wickets will be suited to Indian cricket, but I don't think they'll be able to turn it around.”

The 8-wicket loss was unforeseen and humiliating, but what ended up being a literal insult to injury was the injury to Mohammad Shami, who ended up fracturing his arm after being hit by a Pat Cummins snorter. The injury means that India will likely field rookie Mohammad Siraj in the next two Tests, and Haddin feels the visitors don’t have enough strength to penetrate the Aussie batting.

“They had a great bowling attack the last time they come out here, and now with Shami out with a broken arm they don't have enough depth to cover that," Haddin said.

India ludicrously lost 16 wickets for 92 runs post the run-out of Virat Kohli in the first innings, in a grim batting display which saw no player put his hand up. Haddin feels that, on the back of the Adelaide horrorshow, the performances of a lot of batsmen will come under scrutiny.

"There were a few performances from the Indian batsmen that will come under scrutiny over the next week.

"Do they go in with (Wriddhiman) Saha? Who goes to the top order for Prithvi Shaw? Rohit Sharma comes out of quarantine, does he come back into the side?

"They have a lot of things they're going to have to tackle over this next week leading into this next Test," Haddin added.