Digging your own grave is bad enough. It becomes worse when one starts trying different methods of doing that. India’s approach to the third Test against New Zealand was something like that. Not only did they invite trouble once but kept doing that. As a result, the visiting side finds itself in a strong position at stumps on Day 1, after India seemed to have taken a grip over proceedings.
Let’s come to the most glaring of this suicidal tendency first. With the total reading 78/1, and about three overs remaining to be bowled, it appeared to be India’s day. The bowlers had done well by wrapping up the New Zealand innings for 235 and the batters had settled down. That’s when madness took over and made it yet another forgettable day in this series for the home favourites.
People will say unkind things about Yashasvi Jaiswal’s attempt to reverse-sweep a delivery pitched outside leg-stump or just about on that line. And they will do that for super valid reasons. To try and fetch it from there was unbecoming of a Test opener and the left-hander paid the price. One can say that the irreverence of youth defines the southpaw and it paid dividends in the past. But with minutes remaining for close of play, it was horrendous shot selection.
What followed was a comedy of errors, although the 15,000-odd fans at the Wankhede Stadium could hardly have a laugh at it. Nightwatchman in a cricket match is someone who can hold the bat. In 99 per cent of cases, they are bowlers with at least a few good knocks in first-class cricket. Mohammed Siraj was a baffling choice, considering that he averages below five in Tests and just above seven in other first-class games. New Zealand must have sniffed a chance there to make it three down. But first ball and a review burnt was too good even to their own great expectations.
One doesn’t understand what the urgency was to put the fielders under pressure, with just minutes remaining on the clock for the umpires to call it a day. Virat Kohli, of all people, went for a single that was fraught with danger and perished at the non-striker’s end. Yes, he is a good runner between the wickets. The question is, what was the need for that sharp single at that hour! It was a collective brain seizure on part of the Indians in the last few minutes, which turned the match on its head.
It’s equally impossible to explain what Rohit Sharma was trying to do. A Test opener getting caught at slip is acceptable. But in that manner? It looked like he was caught in three or four minds, not two. The skipper first shaped up for a pull and realised it wasn’t short enough. He then tried to manufacture a push towards the leg-side, closed the face of his bat to a delivery pitched on middle-off or thereabouts and ended up edging it in the most comical manner possible.
And now, let’s come to a less-spoken but critical point. The pitch the Indians have opted for in their bid to secure a win in a series they have already lost is very similar to the one in the second Test in Pune. There is turn and making things different in Mumbai is the bounce. This surface will progressively become more difficult for batting as the match goes on. The team batting fourth will be in a disadvantageous position. This makes the toss more important than it should be.
Why make such pitches at home is a question we can raise, without any hope of getting an answer. There are numerous examples of India beating other top teams on strips which didn’t favour spin bowling so overwhelmingly. This Indian team experienced the flip side of this strategy not even a week ago. To still persist with that ploy means lessons have not been learnt. That’s why we say that they are trying to dig their own grave in numerous ways. A rare whitewash at home looms.