“It was a misjudgment of the pitch, I didn’t read the pitch well enough. And we are in this situation…, ” said Rohit Sharma after Day 1 of the Bengaluru Test.
Rohit caught the journalists off-guard when he settled into the chair for the post-day media interaction in Bengaluru. It was very unusual to see the Indian captain turn up this early into a series but a sense of usualness gripped the setting when he opened the house with his “chalao talwar” comment.India had been bundled out for just 46 on an overcast morning and the captain acknowledged that they “misread” the pitch. The timid show lasted only 31.2 overs.
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Yes, the ball was doing tricks in the air and off-the-surface but no batter showed the intent to battle it out. Startlingly, there were five ducks and only two batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant – reached double digits. Without their resistance, things could have been much worse for the hosts who posted their lowest total on home soil in Tests. Rohit’s theatrics at the presser did lighten up the mood but even that wasn’t enough to hide the embarrassing show by the batters.
The visitors would have felt at home in that Bengaluru setting on the opening day but the batters just didn’t have a plan. There was no visible intention to adapt and grind, and they collapsed like a pack of cards. Even the fightback in the second essay wasn’t enough to cover up for the horror morning and after a very long time, India were 0-1 down in a three-Test series at home.
Pune was up next and there were little doubts of what was going to be on offer. Black soil, low bounce and a lot of turn was in store for both teams who beefed up their spin bowling attack.
This time, however, Rohit didn’t get the opportunity to read the pitch as the opposition won the toss and didn’t hesitate one bit while opting to bat. Once the formalities of using seamers with the new ball was done, the tweakers spun into action and Washington Sundar and R Ashwin ran through the visitors to make it India’s day.
There was turn, variable turn. There was bounce, variable bounce. And there were enough worrying signs for Indian batters who have struggled on surfaces like these.
The second morning in Pune, however, was completely different from the first session in Bengaluru. The sun was out in its full glory and the Kiwi spinners were warming-up their fingers as India batters were set to undergo another trial. Trial by spin!
The mischief of the surface started the moment Tom Latham captain introduced spin but it was the recklessness of the batters which came as a rude shock.
Not one player trusted their defence and were shockingly wild in their shot-selection. This wasn’t the pitch where you could play across the line, but they did. It wasn’t the pitch where you could trust the bounce and play off the backfoot, but they did. It wasn’t the pitch where you could have mindlessly slogged, but they did. Yes there was help, a lot of help, for the spinners but it wasn’t a minefield like we saw during the home Border Gavaskar Trophy fixture vs Australia in Indore.
The batters’ approach has come under scanner twice this series. Twice, India have capitulated and done so in contrasting conditions. There is one more inning in Pune and one more Test before they head off to Australia for the five-match series, and the batters really need to up their game to avoid an embarrassment like this.