- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
India entered the third Test against England in July in a rare position. Owning a 1-0 lead they were well on top in an away Test series.
Doubtless, they were contemplating the possibility of a breakthrough series victory on foreign soil, having gone to England on the back of a run of 14 Tests without a win away from home.
In earning the series lead against England, India had displayed a level of aggression, assuredness and swagger which they historically leave behind them when boarding an international flight.
As swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar loped in to deliver the first ball of the third Test at Southampton, he had the luxury of an ultra-attacking field set by notoriously defensive skipper MS Dhoni.
His late outswinger clipped the edge of Alastair Cook’s bat and fell just short of the second of four slips Dhoni had positioned.
Kumar shot Cook a glare, Dhoni urged his bowler on with a wide grin, and India’s fielders chirped away. The tourists embodied confidence.
Fast forward to the next day and left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja coaxes a loose cut shot from English keeper Jos Buttler. The ball deflects off the inside edge on to the stumps.
Jadeja, a famously fiery character who typically greets wickets with a ferocious roar, makes not a sound. Rather, he meekly looks down at his shoes and shuffles from the ground along with his dispirited team mates.
Cook has just declared. The scoreboard reads 7-569. The Englishmen have not just flayed the Indians but also stolen the bullish attitude and positive body language they had displayed over the first two Tests.
India are still leading 1-0. Yet from that moment forward they looked deflated, conquered and, at times, uninterested.
India promptly gave up a 239-run lead, watched England storm towards a declaration at five runs per over, and then folded for 178 in the fourth innings to lose that third Test by 266 runs.
The five-Test series became locked at 1-1. India, however, already looked like they wanted to retreat to home shores. Their efforts in the fourth and fifth Tests were two of their worst in history. They lost at Manchester by an innings and 54 runs and then at The Oval by an astonishing innings and 244 runs.
In those last two Tests their batsmen first collapsed to 4-8, then in the next innings slumped to 6-66, then 9-90 in the first dig of the last Test, before completing this shambolic sequence by being bowled out for 94.
It was the most astounding capitulation I have witnessed from a side who were in the ascendancy well into a series.
India began the current tour of Australia with these disturbing events as their most recent memories of Test cricket. Their minds also must have been clouded by the 4-0 pounding they endured on their last Test tour Down Under. Together, those series represented giant mental hurdles the Indians would have to clear to compete in this series.
Under the feisty, pro-active leadership of Virat Kohli they seemed to swiftly shed this baggage at Adelaide. While a late collapse deprived them of victory, when it had appeared very possible, that performance represented a significant stride forward.
The slumped shoulders and half-hearted batting efforts that had marred their previous tour of Australia and the last three Tests in England were absent. India believed they could trump Australia in their own playground. They went for the win and fell short, but their very attempt was indicative of a crucial change in mindset.
Come this Test at Brisbane and the Indian batsman again played with positivity and daring. The once-marauding Mitchell Johnson was tamed. Their first innings total of 408 was above par on a pitch which was pleasant for batting but offered generous assistance to the quicks.
Boasting an attacking bowling line-up with two young quicks capable of passing 150 km/h, the Indians laid into their hosts. The pace and hostility of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron unsettled some of the Australian batsmen, not least Brad Haddin.
The Australian keeper tried desperately to fend away a rising Aaron delivery but succeeded only in lobbing it to short leg. Australia were 6-247. India were in raptures. They were perfectly placed to roll Australia cheaply, build a big lead and then level the series.
Yet, just a few hours later, the Indian side looked like they were back in England: bowlers wincing, the captain stony-faced, and fielders staring blankly off into the ether.
Australia’s tail-end batsmen were running amok. Even Josh Hazlewood, a man on debut, batting at 11 and with a first-class batting average of 11, was climbing in to their quicks.
By the time Hazlewood sauntered off the ground on 32 not out, having creamed seven boundaries, Australia had a potential match-winning lead of 97. The home side’s four bowlers had combined to make 195 runs from 225 balls.
India, once again, had allowed a felled opponent to rise back to their feet and rain blows upon them. How they respond now will determine whether this series flows into another bloodbath or whether it becomes a turning point for their young side.