2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 3rd BGT 2024/25 Test vs Australia ft. Rohit Sharma vs Travis Head & Steve Smith
India have just about commenced their preparation for the Boxing Day Test which will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26. Rohit Sharma and Co. have had some downtime to recover from a rain-affected Gabba encounter that ended in a draw.
While India held on to avoid the follow-on and secure the draw, it was obvious that Australia were the favorites for the Test. The visitors are lucky not to be 2-1 down in the series, and the various tactical errors they have committed could have pushed them into a deeper hole.
This is now a good time to reflect on the Brisbane Test, where India weren't anywhere close to their best. On that note, here are two mistakes and one masterstroke by India in the third Test against Australia.
#3 Mistake - Mohammed Siraj ahead of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep
With India needing to avoid the follow-on, they sent in Mohammed Siraj at No. 9 once Nitish Kumar Reddy was dismissed. This was a rather curious choice, with both Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep being clearly more capable with the bat.
Ravindra Jadeja, at risk of being moored at one end, had to take more risks immediately after Siraj came to the crease. The left-hander perished while playing a pull, caught in the deep. Had Jadeja had someone like Bumrah or Deep at the other end, he would've been more confident rotating strike and getting India closer to avoiding the follow-on.
As it turned out, India weren't punished for this mistake. Deep and Bumrah put on a stellar last-wicket partnership to get the job done. Speaking of which...
#2 Masterstroke - Deep and Bumrah played sensibly to avoid the follow-on
When the last-wicket pair joined forces at the crease, India needed 33 runs to avoid the follow-on. Deep and Bumrah could've been disheartened and attempted to strike a few big hits, but they trusted their defense to a decent degree and accumulated runs in singles and twos.
Deep, in particular, targeted areas of the field that didn't have men stationed. He pushed a few down the ground off Pat Cummins as India inched closer, and only unleashed a big hit off the Aussie skipper once the follow-on had been averted.
Even though they were confronted with a daunting task, Deep and Bumrah, who have generally collected runs through aggressive lofted shots, buckled down and played it out intelligently.
#1 Mistake - India didn't target Steve Smith and Travis Head's weaknesses often enough
Steve Smith is still one of the world's best Test batters, but he's clearly on the decline. His hand-eye coordination isn't what it once was, and the superstar batter is susceptible to incoming deliveries on his stumps early in his innings.
Meanwhile, Travis Head has been known to struggle against short balls aimed at his body. The dashing southpaw puts away just about everything else, but he isn't a convincing puller and hooker.
Despite knowing this, India didn't try to exploit these weaknesses often enough. There was never a sustained short-ball ploy against Head, and Smith got far too many loose deliveries well outside the off-stump while facing up against both pace and spin.
The duo's partnership, which took the game away from India, was a painful watch for fans of the team. Captain Rohit Sharma looked listless out in the middle, refusing to implore his bowlers to execute the most fundamental of strategies.