Australia vs India- Test 3 Analysis

This blog is all about Test 3 of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. This was written as a script for my Podcast, Never on the Backfoot for Episode 24.

December 19th – India 36 all-out.

December 29th – India won at MCG.

January 11th – India batted 131 overs to seal a draw at SCG.

Greatest ever come back in Indian cricket history. Yes, we witnessed one of the greatest ever comebacks.

This blog is all about India’s legendary draw vs Australia in this very exciting Border Gavaskar Trophy. This match will forever be etched in our memory for the sheer grit and determination displayed by the Indians and so much more to reflect on.  We will be reflecting on the turn of events prior to the 3rd test, Australia’s 1st innings batting, Steve Smith’s delightful knock, India’s bowling, India’s batting in their 1st innings, Australia’s confident declaration, India’s openers showing some class, the curious case of Steve Smith, the unfair criticism of Pujara. Additionally, we will be focussing on Rishabh Pant, Jadeja’s injury, Vihari and Ashwin’s resolve and India’s long injury list and what it means for Test 4 and replacements.  

Let’s get started first up with the pre-test fiasco and bio bubble breach

Rohit Sharma, fast bowler Navdeep Saini, openers Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant were placed in isolation on Saturday after a video surfaced showing them eating inside a Melbourne restaurant on New Year’s Day. The Australian and Indian cricket boards investigated the alleged breach of biosecurity protocols with precedent suggesting the players might not be selected for this test as they would be obvious health hazards.

It all started after a fan, identified as Navaldeep Singh, tweeted pictures and videos of cricketers Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini and Shubman Gill having a meal at a restaurant. Then it was proven there was no breach in bio-security protocols as they still played in the match. It becomes important to understand that everyone associated with the Indian team is well aware of the protocols and it seemed like a malicious spin by a section of Australian media and this has started after their humiliating defeat.

Australia’s 1st innings

Australia won the toss and like any other team that wins the toss in tests decided to bat first. The rain delay was a little annoying. With David Warner returning and partnering Will Puckovski, a solid opening stance was expected. But that was not the case as Warner was out early for 5 but Puckovski scored a well crafted 62 for a debutant and looked so confident. Smith once again found his touch scoring a 131 and we got to see some exceptional boundaries. Labuchagne once again played a solid second fiddle scoring a 91. 

Ravindra Jadeja threw down the stumps to run-out Steve Smith in the first innings which was a brilliant piece of fielding. His run to pick-up the ball and then the direct hit showed why he is a candidate for being one of the best fielders in world cricket. But the celebrations were that little bit more boisterous because of how bad the team has collectively been on the tour. The rest of their batting was mediocre barring the 24 that Starc made but owing to the excellence in line and length displayed by the Indian bowlers and the fielding too. But 338 on the board meant a very total and for India to get there would be an arduous task. But Australia still made the most of good batting conditions on a rain-shortened day

India’s bowling

India was bowling considerably well and we have to keep in mind that this is not the first choice bowlers but owing to the unfortunate nature of the injuries, we still had a very good bowling line up that was bowling well. Bumrah and Saini took 2 wickets each, Jadeja starred taking 4 crucial wickets and Siraj took the solitary wicket and the two run-outs also rocked the Australian ship. India’s bowlers toiled hard on a wicket that is good for batting and the team might have been in a better position if they had taken all their chances.

Catches win matches, can’t stress enough on this: Almost feels like a series that has been defined by the chances that have been dropped compared to the ones that have been taken. India were poor in the first Test, Australia returned the favour in the second and Pant continued the trend by dropping Will Pucovski early on.

Australia opener Pucovski was dropped twice by Pant – first off Ashwin (on 26) and then off Siraj (on 32). He went on to make his fifty but Pant also single-handedly kickstarted the whole wicketkeeper-batsman vs batsman-wicketkeeper debate again. It is common knowledge that Wridhiman Saha is a vastly better keeper than Pant against spin. But the Indian team usually opts for Pant away from home taking into account the risk he represents. Still, in good batting conditions where the bowlers have worked so hard to create the opportunity, such dropped chances hurt.

The debutants: Saini and Puckovski

The right-hander showed he was at ease against pace and spin. He does have the exaggerated movement towards the off-stump, much like Smith and Labuschagne, but he has also scored big runs in domestic cricket using that technique.  Still, it is just the beginning and the top teams in international cricket will look to break him down with the short ball and the full ball that will trap him leg before the wicket, which is exactly what India’s debutante Navdeep Saini managed to do. Saini came into the playing XI for the injured Umesh Yadav but it was a while before he got the ball in his hand. He was a little short to begin his spell and his first two balls in Test cricket were hit for fours by Pucovski but he started making a correction towards the end of his spell. He got Pucovski with a ball that tailed into the batsman. For most of his spell, he had been bowling around the mid-130s but this particular delivery saw him kick it up into the 140s and that got India a vital breakthrough.

India’s 1st innings batting

India was in to bat now and we had Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, new openers for Team India. They gave India and perhaps the first 50 runs opening stand in as many 14 innings in tests for India as we’ve struggled to find a solid opening pair. Gill and Pujara with their 50s were the only positives.

As India crashed to 244 all out in the Sydney Test, the focus once again shifted to India’s bizarre approach to batting in away Tests. Those 244 runs came off 100.4 overs on a pitch that wasn’t exactly poor for batting. The odd ball did do something but most experts reckoned it was a new-ball pitch and batting should have gotten easier after that. Batting should have been at its easiest at this point but by not showing any intent to score runs, India’s batsmen once again shot themselves in the foot. Shubman Gill has been really impressive. Both the innings he batted on we could see he was fluently tackling the Aussie pace trio of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood. 

Unfair criticism of Pujara, ‘the intent’

All eyes invariably moved to Pujara, who made his slowest fifty in Test cricket before being dismissed for 50 off 176 balls – a strike-rate of 28.41. From 85/2 after 32.1 overs (when Gill was dismissed), India crawled to 142/4 after 67.2 overs (when Vihari was dismissed) – that is 57 runs in 35.1 overs for the loss of two wickets when the ball wasn’t new and hard. Some argued that this is how Pujara plays. Others felt the rest of the batsmen need to score at a better rate. A few grumbled about how Pujara needs to be more aware of the match situation. Still more started comparing him to Rahul Dravid and saying that the former India skipper had at least more strokes at his disposal. But that isn’t exactly true. In fact, Pujara has a higher career strike-rate than Dravid but perhaps our cricketing sensibilities are a product of the times as well. With matches hardly going the full distance these days, Pujara’s efforts come into focus even more. The thinking, for most batsmen, clearly is that if you are in, you need to make the most of your time in the time. In Pujara’s case, as it perhaps was in Dravid’s case too, though, the thinking seems to be that if you are in, then try and stay in for as long as possible.

Pujara, on the other hand, actually looks to take the initiative against spinners but away from home, against pace, he waits for the bowlers to come to him. If they, as the Australian bowlers have this series, can stay away from Pujara’s zone then there are no runs on offer. They can keep banging it in short of a length and the right-hander will continue to defend resolutely. Patience isn’t an issue for him but for the batsman at the other end, it is perhaps proving to be. Ordinarily, strike-rates in Test cricket should not be a talking point but given that it comes so soon after Adelaide, one must go back to Kohli’s words in the press conference after the defeat. “Probably didn’t have enough intent in the batting today. It’s something that needs to be reflected and learnt from,” Kohli had said. With Pujara in the middle, there is no denying that run-scoring does become more of a chore and while he has his own method, he, like Dravid, needs to figure out a way to make the most of his time at the crease but let him be. He is a premier batsman and let him just do what he does best. 

Australia declaring in the 2nd innings

Australia was entering the second innings already with a lead of over 94 runs and looked in full command and were confident of inflicting a major lead on India and did so setting an imposing 409 to win. Bolstered by the brilliant 84 and 81 by Green and Smith, at tea Australia declared 312/6. But they certainly did not see what was coming and what a turnaround the match would witness. 

India’s batting and the Viahri-Ashwin show

They resumed day five at 98/2, having lost both our openers and we still had Puajara and Rahane out there. Needing a further 309 runs after being set a huge 407 to win when Australia declared their second innings at tea Sunday on 312 for six. No team had ever bettered 288 to clinch victory in the fourth innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with Australia achieving that mark against South Africa in 2006. But India gave it a massive go, passing 288 in the final session to fray the nerves of Australian team throwing everything they had at them. The visitors abandoned any hope of victory but they bravely clung on for the draw with Hanuma Vihari, nursing a hamstring injury, surviving 161 balls for just 23 runs and Ravichandran Ashwin, who had treatment on his ribs, making 39. 

They steered India to 334 for five at the close, 73 runs adrift.  Their resistance was built on the back of an explosive 97 from Rishabh Pant and a typically gritty 77 from Cheteshwar Pujara, who passed 6,000 Test runs, but also helped by wicketkeeper Tim Paine dropping three catches. Australia removed openers, Shubman Gill, for 31 and Rohit Sharma for 52 before stumps on day four, and when Nathan Lyon accounted for captain Ajinkya Rahane without adding to his overnight four in Monday’s second over the end appeared nigh. But Pant, who took a nasty blow to his elbow while batting in the first innings and didn’t keep wicket on Sunday, surprisingly came in at number five ahead of Vihari and produced some fireworks. He came to the wicket with no strapping on his hurt elbow and, after settling in and surviving a missed catch by Tim Paine on three, began to hit out, smacking a four and a six off Lyon on consecutive balls. 

Batting in Twenty20-style, he then clobbered two more sixes in a row off Lyon before bringing up his third Test 50 off just 64 balls. He kept the scoreboard ticking over after lunch and a third Test century looked imminent only for the 23-year-old to throw his bat one time too many, caught by Pat Cummins off Lyon. His wicket shattered a 148-run partnership with Pujara, who resumed the day on nine and slowly reached a second consecutive 50. That left Vihari and Ashwin to weather the storm and they did so battling their own injuries.

‘India have got one batsman, one hamstring and one hand to save the game, that’s a lot of bravery’ is what Harsha Bhogle said and he summed it up pretty well. 

Steve Smith incident

Steve Smith was spotted scruffing up the batting mark on the final day of the 3rd Test. Smith did this during the drinks break while the Indian wicketkeeper was on a roll and the hosts were under a bit of pressure as they had just spilt a couple of chances. After the drinks break is over, Pant can be seen taking his guard again.  In the video, the player wearing the No 49 jersey is Smith himself and it was very unfortunate to see a player of his calibre engaging in tampering the pitch. Tim Paine defended him saying that there was no intention of Smith to do that except he just was visualising himself bat and that it wasn’t deliberate but this action of Smith certainly did not go down well with Twitter and experts as he was criticized majorly. 

Rishabh Pant

While Rishabh Pant has been exceptional with the bat, his keeping has come under the scanner. One can argue that there isn’t a lot to choose between Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Pant as batsmen. And Pant’s struggles behind the stumps represent an opportunity for Kishan and Samson if they can work on making their keeping better than Pant’s. It might just be the differentiator that will help them break into the Indian team. In a series where runs have come at such a premium, dropped chances are pure gold for the opposition. Pant is trying his best but at the moment, it is not good enough. His constant chatter behind the stumps is funny and a befitting reply to the Aussies who keep try to rile up the Indians.

A draw that we will savour for long, Rahul Dravid’s bday special

Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin batted out the entire evening session on day five to eke out a memorable draw against Australia in the third Test in Sydney. This was on the eve of the legendary Dravid’s birthday.  The duo wore down Australia by batting for more than 42 overs as India ended up with 334 for five in 131 overs, while chasing a mammoth 407 to win at the SCG. While they were at it, Vihari was battling a hamstring tear and Ashwin had taken a few hard hits to his ribs.

The art of Test-saving batsmanship displayed by Vihari and Ashwin brought to mind the dogged resistance which was the hallmark of the batting of Rahul Dravid, who turned 48 on Monday. Congratulating India for their “extraordinary” effort, the game’s governing body (ICC) wrote: “A fitting birthday gift for Rahul Dravid. An extraordinary display of resistance, fight and patience by India today.”  Former India batsman and domestic heavyweight Wasim Jaffer too was effusion in his praise for an Indian team, which battled a series of injuries and on-field abuses to earn a remarkable draw.

“Even a half-strength, battled, bruised, injured, ridiculed, abused, bio-bubble fatigued India is difficult for a full-strength Australia to beat at home. No praise high enough for this herculean effort. Told you this is a damn good team. 

India’s injuries going in to the last and final test

Ravindra Jadeja, who was sent for scans after a hit to the thumb while batting and eventually ruled out with the fracture. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant joined him in the clinic after a nasty blow to the elbow. Ashwin and Vihari were also injured owing to a back and hamstring injury and with Bumrah also facing abdominal strains, India is quite down on resources. It then becomes important to see if the management is managing injuries well, what is happening and the growing incidence of the injuries have to be evaluated. Many people also joked how India would struggle to put a proper playing 11 for the 4th test.

But the replacements can be in the form of Natarajan making his way in place of Bumrah, Washington Sundar coming in for Ashwin, Mayank Agarwal coming in for Vihari batting at 6. Kuldeep would’ve been an interesting addition but to add depth to batting, Sundar is a better option.  India is already without injured bowlers Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma and batsman KL Rahul, while skipper Virat Kohli is on paternity leave but our bench strength is proving they can still carry out their best with the absence of this legendary set of players not playing. Justin Langer points to ‘not ideal’ timing of IPL 2020 for growing injury list and said that “If you’re having more injuries or the trend is more injuries than usual, then you’ve got to review it”.