India rise up and deliver with same intensity as Australia crumbles
The moment India’s Ravindra Jadeja nudged one off Pat Cummins to mid-wicket to scamper for a quick single, the camera panned towards Steve Smith. Standing at first slip, Smith was in a different world altogether, looking completely desolate and not having an iota of idea how it had come to this.
It was the first session of the third day in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and Australia were looking at the game slipping away from their hands. Steve Smith is no more the Australian captain but his face told a story. He was equally culprit, letting down the team by his own approach and failing to score when the team really depended on him.
But none of that had a bearing on a confident all-rounder from Saurashtra who turned around, looked at the cordon and flashed a beaming smile before defending one back to the bowler. In all fairness, these two unrealistic events characterised the 2020 Boxing Day bout at the G where India showed Australia what they have got, while the hosts were scampering like a headless chicken.
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When it comes to the skill level, perhaps, it is clear who was ahead. The visitors came to the Test perhaps after the most ignominious day in their Cricketing history and without their greatest statesman and the best batsman alongside three of the first-choice pace bowlers. The expected return on the odds of them doing what they did wouldn’t even have bought you a meal in a downtown restaurant but then again cricket happens when you are not noticing.
India believed in their skill. They trusted in their instinct. They focused and regrouped and delivered. Australia, easily the second best side for the major part of the Adelaide Test, came to Melbourne full throttle, trying to choke the Indians in their own game. But in the execution, they were left far far behind.
“You can’t blame the pitch. The pitch has been absolutely perfect today. It’s a little bit of spin, yes, but you’d expect that. Day three of a Test Match. Very little on offer for the fast bowlers, but it’s just been poor batting. Very, very poor batting so far. Once again, this Indian attack have made it so hard for the Australians to score. This is the 55th over, 6 for 110,” Ricky Ponting said on Seven and you could hardly disagree.
India to go full throttle on the fourth day
Mitchell Starc turned up the volume with a barrage of short balls against the tailenders but that said more about his frustration than the Indians’ inability to handle them. Australia went pretty aggressive in their field-set to Rahane and Jadeja, without realising the safety blanket had been a trade off earlier. It was the relentlessness that was going to get the better of the Indian duo and the lack of it hurt the Aussies the most. With the bat, it was a similar story.
“It’s been one of the reasons, I think, that they’ve eventually got themselves out, playing rash shots. They haven’t been able to tick the scoreboard over on a regular enough basis. Pressure builds. When pressure builds, bad shots come. I talked about it in the first innings as well particularly with the way they played Ravi Ashwin. They weren’t proactive against him. Yes, it’s been good bowling, but sometimes against the best bowlers you have to take more risks as a batsman. For the sheer fact they’re not going to bowl bad balls.
“The lesser skilled bowlers you can sit on all day because you know you’re going to one or two scoring opportunities an over, but Bumrah, Ashwin, Jadeja, even Siraj to a certain degree in this game, they don’t make many mistakes. They’ve actually forced the Australian batsman into making mistakes. When you’re just sitting there waiting for good bowlers to make mistakes, you’re basically a sitting duck.”
Cameron Green and Pat Cummins have a chance to restore parity and help them to a respectable position on the fourth day but anything beyond that would need a lot of charisma and of course, magic. Not sure if the Aussies can channel the inner Damien Martyn and Jason Gillespie to save the Test but one can be pretty confident of Bumrah and co. channeling their inner McGrath and Lee to wrap the party soon enough.