While in cricket, it is not over till it is actually over, the writing is on the wall. Even if we see Rishabh Pant playing a blinder on Sunday morning, it will be 1-1 going into Brisbane. A fair and expected result with Australia holding all the aces as far as playing with the pink ball is concerned. But then, that’s what it is. A one-off. Adelaide is an aberration. There are still three Test matches to go, with everything to play for. Australia came back after the Perth mauling and India can too after a loss in Adelaide. This is a five-Test series and we are still in round five of this heavyweight boxing bout.
India lost the match on day 1 itself when, under lights, Australia managed to get to 85-1. Two out-of-form batters in Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney survived the most difficult period of play. India’s bowlers, who aren’t used to the pink ball, did not make the Australians play enough and that’s when things went out of hand. India under lights on day two struggled, with bowlers like Scott Boland knowing very well where to bowl in these conditions.
But that’s why it is an aberration. Pink ball and under lights isn’t even relevant going forward. India will not even bother touching a pink ball in the next three years. It is a failed experiment, which has outlived its usefulness, and going forward, the BCCI should just turn down the suggestion of a pink-ball Test, which is clearly unfair on India.
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Going into Brisbane, it will be order restored. India will fall back on what they did at the Gabba in 2021, and with the red ball, the very same Harshit Rana will know what to do. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who course-corrected on day two, will not err in Brisbane and there will be everything to play for. It is in fact on the team management to tell the boys that Adelaide was an anomaly. The 36 all out in Adelaide led to the Indian series win in 2021. This loss should push the boys to get back to their best with the red ball in Brisbane and Melbourne.
Morne Morkel made a comment in the press conference on Saturday evening that it was disappointing to see the way India bowled on day 1. I wonder what he was doing? As bowling coach, he should have sent instructions saying India needed to make the Australians play more. Just six percent of the balls hitting the stumps wasn’t good enough, and it was his job to let the captain and the bowlers know. And just like Bharat Arun did in 2021, it is Morkel’s job to sit with Harshit and ask him to forget what happened in the first innings. Conditions will be profoundly different at the Gabba and there is every reason to believe India will come good.
The only real concern is the captain. At No. 6, should Rohit Sharma counterattack? Against the older red ball, is that a better ploy for him when he is lacking confidence? For far too many times, he has been dismissed playing inside the line and that will certainly start to weigh on his mind. It will impact captaincy, and that’s what India can ill afford. While I am confident Brisbane will be very different, may I also say that for the skipper, it is going to be a massive Test match. Another couple of failures, and he will have to stand in front of the mirror and ask himself the hard question. One hopes it doesn’t come to this at the Gabba.
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