IND vs AUS 2022: 3 mistakes India made during their disappointing loss to Australia in the 1st T20I
Despite a concerted batting effort and a three-wicket haul from Axar Patel, Team India lost the first T20I against Australia by four wickets in Mohali on Tuesday, September 20.
KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya struck half-centuries on either side of Suryakumar Yadav's blitz as India posted a challenging 208 on the board. The bowlers, however, failed to deliver on a batting dreamland in Mohali as Australia scaled down the total in the final over on the back of principal contributions from Cameron Green and Matthew Wade.
The Men in Blue don't have much time to iron out the kinks in their armor, with the T20 World Cup looming large on the horizon. Here are three mistakes India made in the first T20I against Australia.
#3 Rohit Sharma's rotation of bowlers could've been better
It's tough to point too many fingers at the captain, who did his best in conditions that were extremely difficult for his bowlers. He used two overs of spin in the powerplay to good effect and was proactive overall. But Rohit Sharma could've handled a couple of key moments in the game better.
After Rohit brought back Umesh Yadav for his second over, the pacer overcame an expensive start by picking up the wickets of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell in quick succession. But he was taken out of the attack immediately, not to be seen again in the innings.
At the death, Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled two overs each from 16-19. The decision to bowl them on the trot made things a little too predictable for the Aussie batters, who set themselves up for cutters into the pitch from the former and yorker attempts from the latter.
Rohit did well to give Umesh his crucial second over and also utilized Axar well. But had he been slightly more creative with his bowling changes, India would've had a better shot at defending their total.
#2 India's death-bowling plans were off the mark
Speaking of death-bowling plans, Harshal and Bhuvneshwar got it all wrong against Australia. And surprisingly, it wasn't just the execution that went awry, it was the planning, too.
Harshal tried to bang the ball into the wicket, aiming the batters' midriff with off-pace deliveries throughout his spell. That completely took any deception out of his bowling as the Aussies knew what to expect and they heaved him away over the leg-side boundary with alarming ease. Unlike Nathan Ellis, who mixed his lengths up well in the first innings, Harshal was all too predictable.
At the other end, Bhuvneshwar tried to send down yorkers on the pads. But after a couple of sweetly timed boundaries from Matthew Wade, he abandoned those plans and banged a couple of balls into the pitch. Needless to say, Wade happily dispatched them for boundaries in his favorite hitting zones.
Harshal's missed yorkers and Bhuvneshwar's wides can be forgiven, but the planning was the real culprit in the first T20I. Jasprit Bumrah's return couldn't come sooner for India.
#1 India handed Australia's batters several lives
Green, opening the batting for the first time in professional cricket, made his intentions very clear in the second over of Australia's innings. He pumped Umesh Yadav for four fours, one of which burst through the pacer's hands en route to the long-off boundary. The difficult grassed chance kickstarted a charmed innings for the visitors.
In Yuzvendra Chahal's very first over, Green played and missed a sweep, with none of the Indians even appealing seriously. Replays showed that the ball was crashing into the leg-stump. Later, Axar shelled a straightforward chance at deep midwicket with Green on 42. The batter responded by immediately finding a four.
In the next over, Steve Smith was the man to be handed a reprieve as Rahul put in a lazy effort at long-off. The result? Green pumped Axar over the midwicket boundary off the very next ball for a huge six, with Smith going on to hit a four and a six before being dismissed.
India handed Australia's batters several lives, something they can't afford to do against quality opposition.