4 changes India should make for the Boxing Day MCG Test
India came crashing to the ground today morning as they lost the second Test at Perth by a whopping 146 runs. Though chasing a fourth innings target was always going to be an uphill task, the manner of defeat is what irks fans the most.
The result was a foregone conclusion once Australia stretched their lead over 200, but there was still some hope of drawing the match with Pujara, Kohli, Rahane and Hanuma Vihari expected to hold the fort.
However, Pujara and Kohli got out early, Rahane played an irresponsible shot. While Vihari offered resistance, fell cheaply this morning, all but dashing India's faint hopes.
India's team selection was cited as one of the main reasons for the loss (along with losing the toss, but that could go either way) and here we take a look at some changes that they need to make if they want to go ahead in the series once again:
#4 R Ashwin for Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav's selection for the injured Ashwin in the Perth Test ahead of a Ravindra Jadeja or Bhuvneshwar Kumar raised a lot of eyebrows. The Vidarbha lad has a lot of pace and has grown leaps and bounds from his initial days but his batting credentials as compared to the other two were non-existent.
However, considering the green top, everyone hoped it would work out for the best. But it was not to be. Yadav was the only pacer in the four-pronged attack who failed to deliver across both innings.
He did not sustain the pressure created from the other end by Ishant, Bumrah and Shami and was the most expensive in Australia's second innings, leaking runs at 4.4 an over - which is criminal by Test match standards, while failing to pick up any wickets.
He did provide a crucial breakthrough in the first innings by removing Pat Cummins but it is a no-brainer to bring Ashwin back for Melbourne, considering it is not as pacy as Perth and also because Ashwin provides a safe cushion for the tail, as he is capable of building partnerships and seeing out a spell of hostile bowling.