Australia vs India 2018-19: 5 Unnoticed things from the 2nd Test Match
A Test victory that eluded Team India for years was finally fulfilled with authority at Adelaide. For the first time, Team India had won the first match of a Test series in Australia. The victory was indeed special for players and fans alike.
An upbeat Team India was ready to take on the hosts at their new home ground for the second match. The nature of wicket at the new Optus Stadium in Perth took the centre stage, days before the match. The drop in wicket was termed to be fiery, bouncier so much so that curator opined the match to get over by the fourth day.
Australian captain Tim Paine won the toss and decided to bat first. The grass on the wicket didn't live up to the billing. Also helped by the inconsistent length of Indian bowlers with the new ball. The out of form opening pair of Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris put up a 100 run stand to dominate the proceedings.
But, soon Jasprit Bumrah helped India make inroads and the hosts kept losing wickets until the lower order came to the party again. Australia somehow posted a good score of 326 runs on the board.
In reply, India had a horrible start like every time. Both the openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were dismissed within the first spell. It was the modern master Virat Kohli's masterclass century of 123, that helped India inch closer to the total. Despite the brilliance of Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, India conceded a lead of 43 runs.
Batting was getting difficult with every passing session and Australia once again started strongly to push the game away from India. Bumrah kept it real tight whenever he got the ball in hand. It was late brilliance of a six wicket-haul from Mohammed Shami, that restricted Australia from scoring at will. Still, Australia did put up a huge total of 287 on the board for the visitors to win the match.
As if the pitch already had fewer demons in it, opener KL Rahul proved he had more in his minds. India tottered in chasing the total down. Hanuma Vihari looked more solid than other batsmen but got out in an unfortunate way. Soon it was a procession. Australian bowlers ran through the Indian tail and wrapped it up.
Here are the five unnoticed things from the match.
#1 Unwanted bowling record by Indians against tailenders
There is a huge amount of praise for Indian fast bowling attack in recent times. Pundits have spoken very highly about their skills and craft. But, the inability to skittle the opposition tailenders cheaply is still a blot on the clean resume.
It is not something new for Indian bowlers. When India toured South Africa earlier this year, the likes of Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada scored freely against India. When India toured England, the lack of skill to wrap up the tail quickly has coated India the series. The likes of Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, and Adil Rashid scored plenty of runs against Indian bowling attack to take the match away from India.
This pattern speaks volumes about the lack of planning and execution in the Indian bowlers. When India played against Australia in Perth, It was seven Test matches in a row where they allowed the opposition No. 8 to 11s to contribute 75+ runs in the match. A captain's nightmare indeed.