The struggles of India against red-hot Aussies
Cricket fans expected a nail-biting contest given the firepower in the arsenal of India and Australia, but it was a one-sided affair in the first two matches of the three match series. So what made all the difference?
International cricket returned with a bang on 27th November, with three different international series kicking off on the day. India travelled to Australia for a long tour comprising 10 matches throughout formats, while England and South Africa locked horns in the Proteas’ backyard. New Zealand and the West Indies started off proceedings in the Kiwi’s den as well.
But the most awaited and anticipated encounter was definitely the Indo-Aus series. Virat Kohli’s men in ‘dark’ blue faced off against Aaron Finch’s yellow army. While Australia got a taste of international cricket during their England tour that concluded in September earlier this year, India last played on the highest level in March when they toured New Zealand. After a phenomenal and entertaining IPL came to an end on 10th November, all eyes fell upon the 50-over leg of the India-Australia series. All the players in India’s lineup played in the IPL, while Australia had 9 of their 11 players feature in the Indian league too.
One expected a nail biting contest given the firepower in the arsenal of both these sides, but it was a one-sided affair in the first two matches of the three match series. The main factors responsible for this domination of Australia over India would most likely be: The failure of the Indian batsmen to adapt to the 50-over format after a long IPL campaign, the lack of form of the Indian spinners who have been absolutely thrashed throughout the series, and the destruction that the likes of David Warner and Steven Smith have caused. This duo was missing in the last escapade between the two titans of the game and India had thrashed the Aussies hard in 2018–19 in Australia. But the missing combo is back, and they are ripping the blue to red! Oh! Not just that. Aaron Finch, who had a mediocre IPL campaign, is happy in his land and is throwing venom at Kohli with vengeance!
Glenn Maxwell, who had a torrid IPL season, is also suddenly in his elements back in his homeland and is clobbering the bowling attack to smithereens. Sadly for India it was this T20 fever that they had contracted that cost them the match. In the first bout, despite a near perfect start, Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan, could not keep the T20 gusto at bay for long and succumbed to poor shot selection when there was all the time in the world to smoothly trot to the target.
Nevertheless, in walked Virat Kohli. And the whole world of “Kohli bhakts” was in gasps. The world’s best ‘chaser’ was incomprehensibly aggressive, played attacking shots on every ball he faced trying to be a Gayle! Total reversal of style! Why? The rash approach certainly would not have survived for long. Hazlewood got the wind and cramped his aggression to a ‘near the handle’ rash pull which was cleaned off in Finch’s hands. Dear Virat, was there a six over powerplay that was on?
It was surprising for everyone to see how hard the Indian batsmen went at the ball, and after Mayank and Kohli’s dismissal it was apparent that the team was still in Twenty 20 mode.
But all is not lost. Hardik Pandya is saving some honours. One positive is Pandya’s batting form. The hard hitting all-rounder, playing as a specialist batsman owing to a back injury due to which he cannot bowl, was India’s highest run getter in the series, scoring 210 runs in 3 games at an average of 105 with two fifties. He was the most matured and calculated as to how he wanted to pace his innings. But Hardik’s amazing performances mean that there is no place in the team for a sixth bowling option, something which hurt India immensely throughout the series. Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini were clobbered in the first two games, and Kohli’s desperation was visible as he had to ask Mayank Agarwal to roll his arm over and had to call upon Hardik for a four over spell too.
India need to call upon the services of either Vijay Shankar or Shivam Dube, as both can bat and bowl medium pace. The call also has to be taken as to who from the top order will be dropped in order to fit either of them in.
India’s performance in the last match, despite the fact that they won, was worrying too. Australia, playing without the services of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and David Warner almost chased the score down. Cameron Green, on his debut, and Sean Abbott, playing his first ODI since 2014 were some of the inclusions in the Aussie side and almost upset India before going down by 13 runs in a narrow defeat.
And what is wrong with the ‘Phirki’ throwers? The Indian spin attack is in total turmoil! But Adam Zampa is spinning his way to top, picking up 7 wickets in 3 games, while Ashton Agar picked up 2/44 in the final game as well. On the other hand, the Indian spin ace Yuzvendra Chahal received the beating of his life especially in the first game when he conceded 89 runs in his 10 over quota. Kuldeep Yadav is no less shaky, going for 57 in the one game that he played.
Also, the whole tour, one must say, has been cleverly planned by the Australian cricket board. Organising the ODIs after a lengthy IPL, followed by a transition back into T20 mode before switching to the Test series, the Indian players have not been given time to adapt, something that the Australians are definitely better at doing given that most of them played the IPL too. The need of a sports psychologist is staring at Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly. The Australian team has one in Michael Lloyd who is doing a wonderful job of tuning the ‘yellow warriors’ perfectly fine for the different formats.
The Indians need to bounce back in the T20I series and give themselves that morale boost that they so desperately need, and T20 might just be the perfect format to do it.
The ‘Warner-Smith’ harpoon at this moment is the biggest challenge to ward off. If not, then the ‘Kohli clan’ could be in for a long tour as both love to score runs, and Smith has a terrific and scary record against India. Warner, who is likely to miss the T20I series due to a groin injury, would be hoping to be back in business by the time the Test series is underway and the Indian bowlers would be desperate to devise a plan to keep him at bay. Plenty of things to look back at for the ‘men in blue’ but given the talent and experience they possess, one would expect a strong fightback.
