NEW DELHI: After the highs of Perth, India hit the nadir at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, suffering an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat against Australia in the Pink-ball Test.
With the match finishing inside seven sessions — just over two days — it was a timid surrender from Rohit Sharma and Co. in the day-night game as the contest got wrapped up in record time — the shortest India vs Australia Test ever — lasting just 1031 balls.
Stung by a Mitchell Starc special in the first innings, India then got Travis ‘Head’ache as Australia took a massive 157-run first innings lead, tilting the outcome heavily in their favour.
After their 180-run collapse, India were expected to respond better in their second essay, if Perth was an indiciation, but another crumbling from the visitors meant that Australia were chasing a paltry 19-run target, which they overhauled in just 20 balls.
As India narrowly avoided an innings defeat, quite a few things went wrong for Rohit Sharma and Co. in the second Test.
We identify areas where it all went wrong for India in the pink-ball Test that helped Australia draw parity in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
A 10-day break between Tests
The win in Perth was special for India as they had gained terrific momentum in the series with some excellent bowling and solid batting in the second innings.
But that momentum somehow got broken in the 10-day break that the two teams had. While India did play a warm-up game in the break and had practice sessions, it didn’t keep the on-field momentum, which was evident in Adelaide.
Australia on the other hand, managed to regroup and re-strategise in the break and used it to their advantage.
Three changes from winning side
It is an old saying in cricket that a winning side should not be tinkered with but India went ahead with three changes, bringing in regular skipper Rohit Sharma, a fit-again Shubman Gill and experienced offie R Ashwin.
While Rohit and Gill were obvious calls that India had to make, the inclusion of Ashwin over Washington Sundar came as a surprise for many.
In this chopping and changing, India stuck with KL Rahul at the top and Rohit had to come down to the middle, which led to shaking up of the batting line-up and the balance in the side just didn’t seem right.
To go with that, Ashwin’s ineffectiveness with the pink-ball in the first innings gave India more trouble.
The tale of two collapses
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, it seemed India were confident enough to take the pink-ball challenge head on. But scoring 180 and 175 in the two innings exposed India’s vulnerability against the pink cherry in the day-night affair.
In both the innings India suffered collapses, where top batters looked clueless against the moving ball and a quality Australian pace attack.
While Mitchell Starc, who took career best figures of 6/48, was the wrecker-in-chief in the first innings, skipper Pat Cummins broke India back in the second essay, claiming a fifer.
The likes of Rahul, Gill and Rishabh Pant did manage starts but threw them away as the relentless Aussies bowled at terrific line and lengths and kept the Indians on the backfoot throughout.
Stars Virat Kohli, 7 and 11, and Rohit Sharma, 3 and 6, flopped and were a big part of India’s failure in the Test.
Young Nitish Kumar Reddy was the lone bright spot among India batters in the two outings, scoring 42 each in both innings.
Ineffective bowling
Jasprit Bumrah led from the front in India’s win in Perth but in the second Test, and in the absence of Mohammed Shami, the workload on him was quite evident.
After being shot down for 180 in the first innings, India had to keep things tight with the ball and restrict Australia but the bowlers had a below-par outing that helped Australia rake in big runs.
Quicks Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj both managed four wickets each, but the latter leaked runs at 4 RPO while the likes of Harshit Rana (5.40 RPO) and Nitish Reddy (4.20) too were expensive as the hosts got 337 in their first innings and took a match-deciding 157-run lead.
In Australia’s terrific effort with the bat, Travis Head led the way with a masterful 140 while Marnus Labuschagne returned to form with a solid 64. Equally pivotal was Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney’s battle under the lights on the opening day.
The 153 run lead that Australia took turned out to be a big thorn in India’s flesh as their second innings batting collapse gave Australia a mediocre 19-run target which they overhauled in 20 balls in the first session on Day 3.