Soon after the Sydney Test match in January 2019 had been called off and the press conferences from both captains were over, Tim Paine, accompanied by his wife and other family members, was seen pushing his child’s stroller and silently walking out of the SCG. There were a handful of Indian fans waiting outside the ground, but none bothered to walk up to Paine to ask for a picture. Paine, who had led Australia with dignity and poise in the aftermath of Sandpapergate, hadn’t been able to deliver results. Good behaviour, while it was important, wasn’t enough in the absence of match-winning performances from Paine and his team. Losing a series at home to India added to the sense of dejection.
Australia, many thought, had the bowlers. It was almost the same bowling attack as now, but it wasn’t good enough to push India. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood (now out injured) and Pat Cummins weren’t at their best, and India won their first series in Australia in 71 years.
If anything, 2021 was even better for India. It was a tougher series and, yet again, India emerged triumphant. And now, it is time for the Boxing Day Test, a match that could decide the fate of this evenly contested series. Seeing the fragility in the top-order batting, Australia have called up 19 year old Sam Konstas, who many feel has the talent. Australian cricket, much like India’s, it is fair to say, is in transition. “India will be delighted to have come here 1-1, and from here on, anything can happen,” felt former Australian captain Michael Clarke.
While many believe that Konstas is as good and talented as Dave Warner and have talked him up on television, he needs to play a solid Test innings to convince one and all that he has it in him to be a fixture in the Australian team going forward. While Konstas could well be given a long rope, the same can’t be said of Marnus Labuschagne, who showed glimpses of solidity in Adelaide before falling yet again to some good Indian bowling in Brisbane.
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With the ball, the best talent that Australia can turn to is Scott Boland. Boland has been in superb form in domestic cricket and has both waspish pace and guile. He can move the ball off the seam, and could be a very good back-up for Starc and Cummins.
Perhaps Australia’s national selectors need to recalibrate as well. The best case in point is their handling of Nathan McSweeney. No player, suffice to say, would want to be in his shoes at the moment. He was picked for the first three Tests and dropped before the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Now, if Usman Khawaja continues to fail, will it mean that McSweeney is brought back for Sydney? Is he the replacement for Steve Smith going forward? Such selection methods can have a cruel effect on the mind of a player, and McSweeney could end up being scarred.
So, can Australia make it count at the MCG? With the Adelaide win behind him, Pat Cummins does have a bit more time. But not much. A loss against India, and things could unravel very fast for him. Patience isn’t a virtue of the Australian cricket public, and just like Paine before him, Cummins will be at the receiving end if things go wrong against a fairly fragile Indian batting line-up.
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