The test match played in Sydney, was not an ordinary test match but was one that should be remembered by all! If watched and followed carefully, it might have given all viewers some conundrums to deal with, posed new questions and brought to light some perplexing facts and realities. If over the period of 5 days, which a test finally lasted the whole of, you have asked yourself questions about the future of cricket and debated with someone else or with your ownself, you are not the only one.
What perspective does one look at from, when analysing this test match. Do you try to scrape out the minutest of flaws made by the batsmen or do you appreciate the will and the strength of the batsmen that might have been covered under the dust of a bleak statistic otherwise?; do you hold the batsmen more responsible for the outcome of the match, or the bowlers?; do you question the weather factor or do you appreciate it.
In this analysis, taking a look at the flaws, the injuries and mistakes alongwith unwelcome gestures from the crowd that marred the Sydney Pink test, alongwith the fabulous final day performance by India, and the depth in the Australian bowling.
DAY 1
The first day was the day, which would steer the teams onto their selected pathways with the pitch revealing more about itself as the day progresses. With what was looking to be and did turn out to be a good batting pitch, Australia were looking at a big total and the Indian bowlers were in deep search of just getting some valuable movement from the pitch and some sweet swing.
David Warner was a player, on whom Australia had several hopes riding. Labuschagne and Steve Smith were not at the top of their form, especially Smith and Warner, who is an established opener for Australia. The inclusion of David Warner raises the question that “how desperate were the Australians for a victory in Sydney”, as it was completely clear that Warner was not even fit up to the mark, where he could take up the responsibility of the team if the others fail. A cheap dismissal for Warner set the ball rolling in India’s favor, or atleast it seemed so, until the debutant Puckovsi showed his class and his natural instincts of the game.
It felt like Puckovski was just so natural and he was able to move with the match’s pace. He was able to take on a variety of deliveries and deliver some good shots. He was defensively aggressive, it may sound like a juxtaposition but, what it means is that he was playing a well paced innings and was able to use the speed of the ball, and naturally direct it safely towards an open area to score runs, alongwith some great defence. He was able to play shots all around the ground but was able to also keep the ball down when required. The way he got out was pretty unfortunate but that was some good variation by Saini which led to that result.
After that the Steve Smith and his shadow, Labuschagne’s partnership defined the Australian innings with the bowlers struggling. Steve Smith had found his zone and was able to play the spin well, and was not too nervous even against the fast bowlers. Just like the debutant, Will Puckovski, even Smith’s confidence was growing ball by ball. Indian bowlers failed to get their plans to work, which was also affected a bit by the pitch and the lack of movement and moisture on the pitch even after the rain, which had also broken the momentum of the players.
THE DAY ENDED WITH AUSTRALIA HAVING LOST JUST 2 WICKETS AND HAVING SCORED 166 RUNS IN 55 OVERS!
DAY 2
Australia started day 2 with a good score on the board, and 2 set batsmen with experience of playing the new ball. And after what was a great start, they lost their first wicket, that of Labuschagne, falling to the spin of Jadeja which wasn’t very fast and directed by Labuschagne right into Rahane’s hands, in what was a lousy shot. After that was the slow but steady fall of the Australian batting line – up which was still able to put up a hefty total, atleast in comparision to how the other two tests had panned out, and how the pitch seemed to evolve. The pitch was offering more movement than before and this was making it easier to bowl than bat. The new ball, when taken by India yielded results for them as Bumrah took two quick wickets but Smith with a resistant tailend of Australia was able to stretch the innings long, until Jadeja came back and India started to attack the tailender, instead of Smith, who got out by a spectacular direct throw by Jadeja.
Jadeja’s throw was well planned and targeted. He came to the ball, changed direction first to not waste time after picking the ball when the batsmen would be looking to either cancel the run or run faster, and then angled him towards the stumps with feet in positions and quickly threw the ball for a perfect finish. India now did not have a task which seemed as tough as India made it look after what was a very poor batting display. The new opening partnership for India seems to be one which seems to be set, with them evolving as the innings progressed. The understanding was not completely present between the two players in the first batting innings for India.
India lost two wickets, out of which Sharma’s wicket was given away to Australia like a gift and Gill seemed to have been just a little out of luck and distracted. This partnership, although broke on the same day and both openers got out but helped create a good base for India to build on, which they failed to do as the day ended with India having scored 96 runs, at the loss of two wickets in 45 overs, after what was a completely defensive play by Pujara and Rahane.
DAY 3
The third day was completely in Australia’s favour after what had been a very bad day for India, and led to the outcome that India did not win the match. The day started well for India, riding on some luck but then Rahane got out by playing a misjudged shot and nudging the ball onto the stumps. Rahane, if would have stayed a few overs longer, India would have been better off because just as always Pujara and Rahane had divided their work, with Rahane being able to attack more, and Pujara acting as the defence against all bowlers.
Vihari, who has not been able to get going in terms of scoring runs, but has been great with defence got out while running when there was no run available. India taking that unnecessary risk and Vihari not diving is what turned the whole thing around and had people questioning what India were thinking! India then had 2 more run outs. India needs to work well on running between wickets and need to stop taking unnecessary risks because then India is unable to take the necessary risks.
After Jadeja came on the crease, India was looking to play as long as possible but hurried a but in the middle and took decisions which harmed them a lot. Jadeja was being able to play the short ball and the length balls well and bring in some quick runs. Out of the bowlers, Ashwin is the only one who can bat well, atleast historically. The Ashwin and Jadeja, who is an all – rounder, partnership was going fine and could have bore good fruits for India since Ashwin, if not score several runs, can defend very well with the full face of the bat and by coming forward and towards the ball.
The Ashwin run out was just poor decision making by Ashwin, who isn’t the fastest out there by far and when Bumrah got out next, that can’t be called a completely unnecessary call by Jadeja, but Bumrah could have divided maybe. And hence, India need to work on running between the wickets and sprinting in speed. The final partnership which was between Jadeja and Siraj was going good and Siraj ensured that he stayed clear of the ball when facing it and both kept rotating strike as necessary, until the time when Siraj looked to play it a bit and got out in a very common fashion of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21 and test matches in general.
Then the Australian batsmen came to bat, and they had a set target in mind – to play as long as possible into Day 4 with enough runs on the board for the bowlers to be able to defend it properly. Warner was still not completely fit and was visibly not in form, but he was able to hit the ball well a couple of times and score runs steadily. Will Puckovski was again in his natural flourishing style and mainly either defending or dealing in boundaries. A great delivery which was moving a bit after contact with the pitch and just that slight movement had Puckovski edging the ball to the wicket keeper. A close to the body, and moving ball had Puckovski as a victim.
When Labuschagne came, he was looking to score runs quickly and was scoring steadily and rotating the strike while picking on the short pitched balls, later on also employing his useful flick shot. The Labuschagne – Steve Smith partnership was the most successful and helpful partnership for Australia in both the innings, just because they both are good players, Labuschagne follows Smith like a shadow, they have developed a good understanding and can take quick decisions. With both being good batsmen, they are also able to keep the bowlers always under pressure, forcing them to try more variation and experiment a bit at times, as seen on Day 4, which turns the game in the batsmen’s favour.
The day ended with Australia having lost 2 wickets and scored 103 runs in just 29 overs, at a run rate above of 3.5 Runs per Over, and having extended their lead over India to that of a 196 runs.
DAY 4
The 4th day started with Australia in charge and dictating how the bowlers were bowling, helped by the misfields and dropped catches by the Indian fielders. Labuschagne was playing around the ground and was playing unorthodox shots, during which a brilliant diving catch by Saha had him dismissed after the ball caught the edge and went leg side. That wicket fell just because of the talent and persistence of Wriddhiman Saha. After this also Steve Smith was going great after having understood the plan by India and nullifying the threats by playing the ball while staying more towards the leg side than in the previous matches, which almost nullified the risk of him being caught by the leg slip and leg gully as he able to attack the balls bowled there and play on off side also easily, but Wade again made a great mistake and got out early. It was this opportunity that was ceased by Cameron Green, who played the innings of class.
Tim Paine was lucky at times and was hitting in the gaps that were present, while playing the ball to where a gap is and where the ball can be directed. Cameroon Green, who was playing slowly till Smith’s wicket but after that was taking on all kinds of balls and attacking the bowler. He was slogging and playing unorthodox shots to speed up the innings. He was able to cleanly strike the ball while making use of both the length, the bounce and the speed of the ball.
Australia declared at Tea, and gave India a target of 407 runs to be chased in 4 sessions, while having a chance to play more than 130 overs. At this point, it seemed that Australia could win the match with its bowling attack, which at that point of time was also expected to be supported by the fielders unlike India, who had Bumrah going wicketless due to several dropped chances.
The Indian batsmen came to the middle to bat and it was a great start for India, with the opening pair scoring at a steady and healthy run rate and even rotating strike this time around, it seemed that if no wickets fell in the session, India could well be on their way to win this one but as it would be – Shubman Gill got out for just 31 runs and Rohit Sharma got out after scoring his fifty while playing a shot, which would be counted as an attacking shot, in which he pulled it straight to a deep fielder. The way Sharma was picking the ball would have helped India a lot, if he stayed for even a few more overs.
The day ended with India having scored 98 for the loss of 2 wickets in 34 overs, with 309 runs left to win(India).
DAY 5
This was a day which highlighted the importance of having players who are physically fit. In the first over itself, Rahane was sweetly dismissed after which Rishabh Pant played a long innings, which had a very long part of it put into saving wickets and understanding the pitch and the bowlers’ plan. After which he launched an all out attack, especially picking the spin of Nathan Lyon to score against. Rishabh Pant is able to pick spin better, and that also meant that they were trying to have Pant score against Lyon and Pujara defend against the others. As Pant got more and more comfortable, he also started to play grounded shots against the fast bowlers. He got out 3 runs short of scoring a century, playing a shot which can’t be picked out and said that he did wrong, since that was the same aggression and shot style which earned him the bulk of his runs, but he did not time it perfectly and got caught out easily.
Hanuma Vihari, who has been struggling to score runs, was again playing the slow game but thankfully for Indian fans’ hopes, Pujara had got going scoring at a pretty good and fast pace with boundareis but after Pujara’s dismissal, it was all a agme of defence, especially since both the players were injured. Ashwin’s injury wasn’t totally known and hence live, it felt that they could have tried to win the match even then but the Indian players were more injured than actually known to many.
The game of defence played on the birthday of the WALL “Rahul Dravid” was of top class, as they survived all bowlers of the Australian line up, and even did not create several chances, while also defending sledging and a lot of injuries caused by the risky bouncers and fast, short pitched balls by the bowlers. India could have won, as given in the post on Instagram and Facebook & Messenger stories, but due to injuries and an unfortunate early wicket for India had them playing an unbelievable draw.
| THE DECIDER IS IN BRISBANE WITH SEVERAL INJURED INDIAN PLAYERS AND A GROUND WHICH SHOULD HELP THE AUSTRALIAN SIDE|
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