Sweeping Aussies…Swept Away

The 2nd Test Match between Australia and India was interestingly poised when Day 3 began today. A match which the Aussies just couldn’t lose had built up beautifully upto this point and though the Aussies had dominated most part of it, the Indians had fought hard to stay absolutely relevant in the game. The First Session today was critical and an engaging contest was expected to say the least. However, what transpired in the centre of the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi was completely the opposite.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could not have asked for more. With no demons in the pitch whatsoever, Jadeja and Ashwin just bowled straight and knocked out Australia well before Lunch. The Aussies collapsed in a heap losing 9 wickets for a paltry 52 runs. The passage of play was well and truly hilarious with Jadeja laughing his way to a 7 wicket haul. Even he could not believe as to what had hit the Aussies. His smile bespoke of his bewilderment on seeing the Aussie parade. 

After losing Travis Head in the very first over, surprisingly the Australian batters ( through some horrible expert advice ) adopted the sweep as the only shot to be offered to the deliveries bowled by Jadeja and Ashwin. It appeared as if a death wish had engulfed the minds of the batters as one after the other perished while playing the sweep or its reverse variety. A brilliant Jadeja had more than an inkling and he just kept it as straight as possible. The resultant were clean bowleds and LBWs. 

I haven’t seen such meek collapses in two consecutive Test Matches from an Australian side. The poor shot from Pat Cummins on the first ball he faced was unbecoming of an Aussie captain ( he didn’t bowl much either, don’t know what he did in the match ) Australians are known to play hard cricket, are ferocious fighters and are too difficult to dislodge. However this team has lost two Test Matches in two and a half days each, speaks about the quality of the  side. David Warner appears over the hill. Mat Renshaw brought into the side because of his earlier experience in India has been invisible with his  batting. Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marcus Labuschagne and Peter Handscomb have shown some fight. 

Alex Carey is a pale shadow of some of the  great Australian wicketkeepers like Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist while Steve Smith is more occupied with his unnecessary antics on the field than his batting or fielding. He has let the team down. It would an understatement to say that this team is more un-Australian than Australian, which we have come to know over the years and therefore deserve the pasting they have got from a terrific Indian side. Poor team selection too has been a significant reason for the floundering Aussies. It is difficult to understand what were Cameron Green and Josh Hazelwood doing in the dugout. 

Set a meagre target of 114 runs to win, India chased it  down easily and emerged victorious. They fought hard, were positive with their play and swept aside Australia in an emphatic fashion.  Axar Patel was brilliant and so were Ashwin and Jadeja both with bat and ball. Technical glitch or not, India are clearly the best Test Team in the world. They have performed everywhere and deserve the top slot. 

The third Test begins in 8 days. There is ample time for the Australians to regroup and have some good sight seeing. Anyways they are looking more like Tourists than cricketers. Congratulations to India for retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the umpteenth time.

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