If it’s an away Test, it must be another defeat for India. That was sadly the case in Brisbane as the Indians sank to their sixth loss in a row to the Aussies Down Under. Mahendra Singh Dhoni must be sick of trying to explain what led to the latest setback. But it has become a routine affair now.
India were on top on the first day of the Brisbane Test, ending the day on 311 for four with the Aussies struggling to cope with the heat. They lost the bowling of Mitchell Marsh and India were almost on cruise control. But the tide began to turn from the next day.
Debutant pacer Josh Hazlewood grabbed five wickets to restrict India to 408 before captain Steven Smith scored a brilliant century to boost the hosts. But what really put Australia in firm control of the match was the lower order batting, led by a counter-attacking 88 from Mitchell Johnson and a half century by fellow left-armer Mitchell Starc that took the Aussies from 247-6 to a massive 505.
That lead turned out to be vital as on the fourth day of the Test, Johnson, fresh from his batting exploits, delivered a fiery spell that broke the back of the Indian batting and restricted the visitors’ lead to a meagre 127.
The target proved tricky to chase but Australia crossed the finish line in the end. On the face of it, India must be gutted having given away a golden opportunity to square the series. But this performance still offers a lot more positives for them than any of the previous defeats have. For the second straight match, India were in the hunt on every day of the Test. That did not happen in England in 2011, Australia in 2012 and in June or New Zealand and South Africa at the start of the year.
If in Adelaide India almost chased down a target of 364, being placed at 242-2 at one stage before losing by 48 runs, then at the Gabba the visitors had Australia six wickets down on a deteriorating wicket chasing a small total. Even 40 more runs might have proven enough.
India’s bowlers are still facing difficulties getting 20 wickets fairly cheaply but they are definitely getting there. Pacers Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron have the right mindset; bowl with good pace (extreme in the case of Aaron) and just need a little bit of luck to go their way to make the difference. Ravichandran Ashwin is definitely India’s frontline spinner and he offers great value with the bat, so that area too has been covered. The Indians now can stop fiddling with their bowling line-up.
The batsmen are scoring runs and although they were shot out by a fiery Johnson, the fact remains that crucial decisions have gone against them – Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha in the first Test and Cheteshwar Pujara and Ashwin in the second – and although it is due to their own board’s insistence of not having the decision review system, one can’t help but wonder what would have happened if that hadn’t been the case.
India’s approach has been excellent throughout and no fan can complain about lack of effort. They are asking the right questions, applying the correct amount of pressure and playing with an attacking attitude.
Captain Dhoni is not even spreading the fielders at the drop of a hat anymore. India have not looked so assured of their plans away from home for a long time. Victory has to be just round the corner.
