Considering the diversity and depth of both bowling attacks, it was almost a given that Australia and Indias bowling would cancel each other out. And thats exactly how its panned out thus far.
Indian bowlers kept the visitors ahead in Adelaide despite their batsmen not seizing the advantage of batting first on that surface.
Then in Perth, Australia made the most of the knowledge of home conditions and played Nathan Lyon on one of the greenest 22 yards prepared for a Test match. They knew that looks would be deceptive and Lyon was likely to play a key role, and he did.
Thin ice: Chopra feels India's batsmen, including opener Murali Vijay, need to lift.Credit:AAP
Therefore, the focus has, once again, shifted to the batting departments of both teams. There have only been two centuries scored in the first two Tests and incidentally, both have come from the Indian bats. Cheteshwar Pujara in Adelaide and Virat Kohli in Perth. Yet Australia has scored more runs as a unit across two Tests and that should be an area of concern for the Indian team.
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Lets start with the openers—Prithvi Shaws injury opened the door for Murali Vijays comeback into the playing XI to partner KL Rahul. While Vijay was left out of the home series against the West Indies after the underwhelming tours of South Africa and England, Rahul hasnt scored a lot of runs on either side of that century in the last Test match against England.
The key to doing well in Australia, and its true for all touring sides, is to start the innings well with both bat and ball. The new Kookaburra has the ability to inflict damage and if you can blunt that without losing too many, you are decently placed to make a match of it.
While the Indian bowlers have done reasonably well, India's openers have left a lot to be desired. India have called upon Mayank Agarwal, an opener, for the remaining two Tests. Now that a replacement is available, itll be surprising if India dont make a change at the top of the order. Also, the other area where Australia have done significantly better is their tails contribution with the bat. Theyve outscored the Indian counterparts by a fair margin.
Indias issues with removing the tail this year are well documented but as much as its about Indian bowlers still learning the craft to dismiss the lower order, its equally about the tail getting more equipped and adept to bat across the board. The Indian tail tends to wag quite a lot at home but thats not been the case overseas and that puts a spanner in the works.
Virat Kohli is always keen to play five bowlers, but that succeeds only when at least two of the five bowlers consistently contribute with the bat. Since thats not the case with the current attack, its almost compulsory to switch tactics.
But even while playing four bowlers, it might not be a bad thing to have a look at their batting prowess as an add on.
Im not suggesting India should pick a bowler on the basis of his batting ability but if there is a toss-up between two equals, its prudent to pick the one who can bat a bit. For example, it was better to pick Bhuvneshwar Kumar over Umesh Yadav at Perth just for his batting abilities, if not for his accuracy.
Lastly, there seems to be momentum building in Australia about the behaviour of this Indian team. The local side hasnt liked the way Kohli and co. have reacted on the field.
The altercation between Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja on the field is also highlighted as an example of in-fighting thats spilled on to the field of play.
Overblown: The confrontation between Ishant Sharma and Ravi Jadeja was virtually irrelevant, according to ChopraCredit:Fox Sports
I find this reportage and scrutiny grossly unfair and uncalled for. Australian players (including the coach and former players) crying foul for on-field behaviour is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. And anyone whos spent some time inside a dressing room would acknowledge a lot worse happens behind closed doors than what we saw and heard between Ishant and Jadeja.
Tempers flare, people talk, they patch up and play together for the same country with the same passion. It will be a travesty if the focus is shifted to peripheral topics when the cricket played in the first two Tests is of such high quality. Just like it was foolish to write off Australia after the first Test, you write off India after Perth at your own peril.
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