Aus vs Ind – 2nd Test – India finally arrive in Australia of their expectations

On By Littum

“Get ready for a wreck…” This Aussie team says no such thing. But Nitish Kumar Reddy managed to get a rise out of their captaincy as he bailed out facing the first ball in the 35th over on day one of the Adelaide Test.
Pat Cummins has spent this news cycle dealing with questions about the cohesion of his men and the way they play. He has been met with whispers of his own downfall and insinuations that he takes defeat too lightly. Neither seemed to wind him up as much as seeing a perfect ball go to waste. He immediately went for the bouncer, at 143 kmph, and Reddy, despite being ready this time, was barely able to duck for cover. Adelaide Oval loved it.
India were finally in the Australia they would have expected before coming here. High. Demanding. Hostile. Frustrating. Stingy in rewarding good work and happy to punish mistakes. Towards the end of today’s game, when Mohammed Siraj expressed his annoyance at having to use more energy than he needed for the same reason – a batter who pulled away from his stance at the last minute, due to a fan, who ran into his line of sight with a beer hose no less – he was told by 50,186 people and then laughed off when he conceded a four off the next ball.
Much of the talk leading into this game was about India’s batsmen needing to adapt to the pink ball, given how little they play this flavor of Test cricket. But it seems the bowlers had just as much to get used to. Strangely, like in Perth where they got a chance to bowl when the conditions were still useful, a blessing in disguise if there is such a thing when you are all out for 150, Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj had to use pink bullet just as twilight was about to fall.
Much of Australia’s success in these games has been built on batting first, hitting big and holding the opposition in during the final session (usually on day two) when the storm surges come into force and have a strange hold over the game. In 2022, they had West Indies 102 for 4 at stumps on day two after declaring their own innings close to the last session’s play. Their fourth wicket had fallen to 428. In 2021, they took the fairly straightforward call of giving up the runs their last two batsmen might have added to their 479 to unleash Mitchell Starc in England’s top order, and he delivered with a wicket in his second over, with Michael Neser backing him up before stumps. Australia had been on the board for 176 before falling two. England had 12.

India would have hoped for something similar; to take advantage of the twilight session to get back into the Adelaide Test. But it felt like they got too much movement and struggled to calibrate their lines and lengths to make it count. An under-fire Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney were able to leave 18 of the first 30 deliveries they faced and that trend continued. Australia did not bowl on half the balls they faced in the first 20 overs. They had a better understanding of the bounce available off the pitch, making India look like they lacked their marks.

“The lengths could have been a bit fuller to encourage more play,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said. “I also thought Australia left very well. It seemed to be a trademark of the way they play, the two of them (McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne, who have put on an unbroken 62 for the second wicket). They left on the length very well. We kind of feel like the swing and the seam was a little bit inconsistent, which makes it difficult for both parties.”
India also hit upon a plan. They discovered that the good length ball held the potential to cause the most problems and looked to be proactive against everything on both sides of it. It was during this that KL Rahul and Virat Kohli fell to balls, they realized they could go, but not before it was too late. This may have been a mixture of what is happening in Australia and what is happening with the pink ball.

“From Tests gone by and probably no different today, there are times in a pink game when the ball can get soft and it’s difficult to score, difficult to take wickets, a dead spot in the game,” said Starc, “So whatever the reason the ball is starting to do a little bit more again.”

India left for their hotel at the end of day one with a sense of what might have been. Another feeling familiar among the away teams that come here. Shubman Gill missed a straight ball that he could have run for four. Yashasvi Jaiswal wandered too far across his crease to connect with a ball on leg stump. Rahul and Kohli were indecisive.

“Obviously losing a wicket from the first ball sends tremors through the dressing room,” ten Doeschate said, “but we recovered really well and (from) 69 for 1 we probably feel we missed a chance there .I also feel that is the nature of the pink ball. Things can happen in lumps, we lost wickets which we would have learned in the first innings and we will go away and see how to play in the second innings.”

Even their most eye-catching plays – when Harshit Rana seemed to get into McSweeney’s head by asking him to use the bat and when Bumrah found his usual control to beat Labuschagne’s bat – didn’t really materialise. They felt that something might happen. It didn’t.

“I don’t think 86 for 1 is a true reflection of how we bowled,” ten Doeschate said. “I thought there were a lot of plays and misses. It’s definitely the edge (that we fell in the seventh over). I know the score looks like there’s a big gap between the two teams, but we feel still we are in contention and with a few tweaks tomorrow if we bowl a bit better we feel we can get back into contention tomorrow.”

India has loved being in Australia. They have literally had things to do every time. The e-scooters that can be rented on the street were a huge hit with the team in Perth. There, at the end of each and every day, they found themselves in a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming situation. After 77.1 overs in Adelaide, they have had a bit of a wake-up call.