Australia vs India 2018-19: 3 things we learned from Day 1 at Perth
The first international match at the newly built Optus stadium commenced with Australia and India playing out the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The day had an ebb and flow throughout, with Australia arguably getting the better of the exchanges in the end.
Australia’s opening pair stitched together a century stand before Aaron Finch was trapped LBW by Jasprit Bumrah. Marcus Harris continued on his merry way and notched the first fifty of his nascent career, but India hit back in the second session with wickets of the aforementioned duo and Usman Khawaja.
The third session saw the Australians mount a fightback through Shaun Marsh and Travis Head. Once the former’s vigil was ended by Hanuma Vihari, India clawed their way back and eventually got rid of Head with the second new ball.
In the final few overs, Tim Paine and Pat Cummins joined hands and ensured that the Indians didn’t taste any more success. The Aussies ended with a score of 277-6, and on a wicket that has started to play tricks, look in good stead to control the match.
As always, there were a few things that came to light during the course of the day’s play. Through the lens of this article, let's take a closer look at them.
Here are the three things we learned from Day 1 at the Optus Stadium:
#3. Vihari’s bowling can be invested in
India were greeted with a juicy pitch upon their arrival in Perth. With the pitch more or less resembling the outfield’s colour, India decided to go with an all-pace attack; Umesh Yadav was drafted in place of the injured Ravichandran Ashwin, while Vihari took his place as the 6th batsman at the expense of Rohit Sharma.
Though the middle order batsman hasn’t yet had a go with the bat, he has already captured everyone’s attention with the ball.
Vihari is a part-time bowler at best and thus, the team’s decision to not opt for a spinner raised a few eyebrows. However, the lad from Hyderabad ensured that the team didn’t miss the services of a full-time spinner.
He bowled 14 overs and conceded 53 runs. Although he was a tad expensive, his dismissals of Harris and Marsh more than offset the runs given away.
While the end-product was rightly cheered, it was the potential he displayed while bowling that truly caught everyone off-guard.
The off-spinner never really looked out of his depth and quickly worked out his ideal line and length. With the pitch offering bounce, he flattened his trajectory and bowled back of a length, thus making sure the Aussies weren’t able to play easy drives off him.
Moreover, he showed immense poise to not waver from his line or length when the Aussies tried to pressurize him.
Even though the loose delivery reared its ugly head on occasion, there was enough to suggest he had put enough thought into his bowling. If India are thinking of abandoning the five-bowler policy, they might as well invest in ‘Vihari: The Bowler’.
Talk of him becoming a full-fledged all-rounder is still premature, but there is certainly enough bowling talent to make the gamble worthwhile.