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Steve Smith had a mighty tough day at the office on the first day of the Gabba Test.
He started by losing the toss, which he described as a decent toss to lose, but by stumps, when India’s cruise was halted at 4-311, it was indeed a mighty tough day.
AUSTRALIA VS INDIA: DAY TWO LIVE SCORES
Shaun Marsh dropping classy opener Murali Vijay at 36 at third slip and 102 in the covers, both off Mitchell Johnson, were extremely costly as Vijay made 144 precious runs.
One bright spot was all four dismissals were caught behind by Smith’s vice-captain and keeper Brad Haddin, or that’s what the scorebook shows.
Actually it was three catches, plus a ‘catch’ off Cheteshwar Pujara’s helmet grill, another howler by English umpire Ian Gould, where Haddin didn’t even appeal.
Pujara looked filthy when he eventually decided to leave the centre, but don’t blame Gould, blame your pig-headed and arrogant Indian board for refusing to sign on for the DRS.
Two other bright spots were the first Test wickets for Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood, even if the latter was off the helmet grill.
And the only other bright spot for Smith was the sharp infield fielding that saved at least 40 runs, despte the intense heat and humidity at the Gabba.
But the rest of the day was a blur for the new skipper, and it was best shown in the dot balls among the 83 overs bowled in the day.
A total of 498 balls were bowled, but 357 were dot balls. And of those dot balls the vast majority were left alone by the Indian batsmen as the line was way off target.
Such a waste.
Mitchell Johnson, Hazlewood, Marsh, and especially Mitchell Starc, rarely troubled the Indian batsmen who chose to let delivery after delivery pass by aimlessly to Haddin.
But Shane Watson, and to a lesser extent Nathan Lyon, at least forced the Indians to play the majority of their deliveries.
So Day 1 at the Gabba was a long way short of the Australian attack that dismissed India twice in Adelaide to win a magnificent Test match by 48 runs.
Unless Australian bowling coach Craig McDermott can improve the Australian attack out of sight overnight, India could well pass 500 on a belter of a track, and only the tourists can win.
But there’s an Australian casualty list to overcome.
Johnson has a problem with the vital index finger of his bowling hand, Hazlewood has a leg problem, Marsh a tight right hamstring and Starc was heat affected.
Only Lyon, and the usually injured Watson, finished the day in one piece.
The only question I ask of Steve Smith, who handled a really tough day moving around out of form bowlers in the heat with the aplomb of a veteran, is why he didn’t bowl himself?
Offie Lyon managed to get bounce and turn on the first day wicket, so it’s reasonable to assume Smith’s leggies could well have made the difference.
It was sure worth a try. Let’s see what happens on Day 2.