-Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
Another comprehensive performance from the Indian bowling unit, Australia once again failing to capitalise on winning what could have been an important toss and India in a dominant position after Day 1 of the second Test at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. The script was similar to what was witnessed in Nagpur last week.
There was one difference, a fairly significant one. And that was Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. On a pitch expected to be helpful for the spinners and offering some turn, especially to Ravichandran Ashwin, he resisted the temptation to go all out with his three tweakers. He was quick to realise that his quicker bowlers could also be effective on this surface and kept bringing them back in regular intervals after their opening spells.
This might have gone unnoticed, but it was one of the highlights of the first day’s play. Think about it. Australia’s four-pronged attack has three spinners. Your own XI has as many. And they did phenomenally just a week back. To be still be able to understand the potential of hurting Australia with fast bowlers and not relying completely on spinners took some cricketing intelligence, ability to read the conditions and backing your gut feeling. Captain Rohit showed all that.
Of the 78.4 overs India bowled on the first day of the second Test, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj delivered 24.4. That’s nearly one-third of the overs bowled by India. Siraj came up with an accurate first spell during which he beat the left-handed Aussie openers consistently outside the off stump. With a bit of luck, he could have had a few in the column of wickets in his bowling figures. There were two edges which fell short of either the wicketkeeper or the slip fielder.
In contrast, Shami had a poorer first spell. He was erring in direction and bowled on both sides of the wicket, which is a strict no-no as far as captains are concerned. But then, Rohit backed his instincts and brought Shami back for a second spell from the opposite end. Shami got the ball to kiss the edge that Siraj had missed so often and David Warner was dismissed. Although scratchy, the opening stand between him and Usman Khawaja was worth 50. It was crucial for India to break through and Shami obliged.
In fact, in all three sessions, Rohit used Shami. Siraj was in operation in the first two. That the skipper kept using them even when Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were taking wickets spoke volumes of his acumen and ability to sense an opportunity. Nobody would have blamed Rohit had he persisted with the spinners. But he followed what he believed was the most appropriate ploy for the moment and at the end of the day, his team benefited from that. Shami’s four for 60 proves that.
Australia had three 50-plus partnerships and another worth 41. Had two of these blossomed further, the visiting side would have reached a far better position. Rohit’s intuition and confidence in backing himself ensured that the Australians could not identify a pattern in the Indian attack. They thought it was going to be another trial by turn and what they got in the end was a mixed bag. Compare these and you will get what happened: In Nagpur in Australia’s first innings, Shami and Siraj bowled 16 of the 64 overs. In Delhi, as mentioned earlier, this rose to 24.4 of 78.4.
This was clever leadership. Good captains are those who go against set patterns and create something of their own, going by what they see and feel instead of what others tend to believe. Apart from looking in good touch again with the bat, Rohit showed this quality and that’s one reason why his team is in a better position than Australia. A lot of cricket remains to be played in the second Test. But for helping India hold the upper hand after Day 1, the skipper deserves praise.