The Indian team had a training session almost at full tilt in Adelaide on Tuesday morning, but vice-captain and bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remained absent, with the visitors’ thinktank understandably mindful of his workload.
The team is expected to leave for Brisbane soon, with the third Test at The Gabba scheduled to begin on December 14. After India’s victory in the series opener against Australia in Perth, the hosts came back in Adelaide to make it 1-1 in the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy.
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India’s over dependence on Jasprit Bumrah visible in Adelaide
With three out of India’s four innings so far folding up for less than 200, the batting unit sweated it out in the nets at the Adelaide Oval trying to fix the chinks in their armour.
India’s four innings so far in the series read 150, 487/6, (in Perth), 180, 175 (in Adelaide). Two Indian batters have scored a century so far, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli scoring 161 and 100 not out respectively in Perth. KL Rahul has given a good account of himself as an opener, but hasn’t been able to convert any of his knocks into a big innings, with a highest of 77.
All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been impressive with the bat lower down the order, with crucial contributions in both the Tests with an attacking intent. With 163 runs, he is the third highest scorer of the series so far, behind Jaiswal, who has produced 185 runs and the table-topper Head with 240 runs.
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India’s bowling, barring against the counter-attacking Travis Head, has looked settled despite the absence of consistent support for Bumrah from the other end, which has put extra pressure on the right-arm pacer. However, that takes nothing away from the four-wicket burst Mohammed Siraj produced in Australia’s first innings at Adelaide and Harshit Rana’s fine performance on debut in Perth. Siraj, too, skipped the training session on Tuesday.
Bumrah’s match-haul of eight wickets in Perth, especially his five-for in the first innings, was the turning point in the first Test. After the visitors were bowled out for 150, Bumrah rocked the Australian batting line-up that could muster only 104 to lose the advanted.
Bumrah then took four wickets in Australia’s first innings at Adelaide, but was visibly overloaded as he broke down once holding his hamstring and required medical attention. However, he recovered to bowl normally afterwards to allay fears around a possible injury.
Rohit Sharma’s struggle continues
But India are yet to find an answer to Head’s attacking intent. After his 101-ball 89 in a losing cause at Perth, Head continued to torment India and produced a game-changing knock of 140 off 141 balls in Adelaide to put his team in the box seat.
On that note, India would have loved to have Mohammed Shami in the squad to keep the pressure on the Australians from the other end. But he is still under the assessment of BCCI’s medical team while having returned to competitive cricket and currently playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.
If Shami doesn’t reach the Test-match fitness levels and remains unavailable for the remaining three Tests, which is likely, then Bumrah staying fit and at the top of his game will become even more critical against the Australians, who smartly saw Bumrah off in Adelaide while attacking the other Indian bowlers.