John Inverarity, take a bow. You and your band of selectors made two tough decisions leading into this Test, and it has paid off so well.
Nathan Lyon was replaced by Xavier Doherty, and Mitchell Starc axed for Glenn Maxwell. Gutsy, but just brilliant.
For those of you who don’t recognize sarcasm, the above sentences could be a definition for it.
At the conclusion of the second day in Hyderbad, which included a clinic from Indian batsmen Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara that has the Indians 1/311 in response to Australia’s 9/237 declared, it was clear to all observers that the experimentation with the selections in the series thus far has not worked.
In fact, it has been a disaster.
It must be said that Pujara and Vijay were fantastic on day two, schooling the Australians on how to bat in the subcontinent, and in Test cricket in general. Credit must be given where it is due.
However, the bewildering nature of the before mentioned selections was exemplified as the Aussie bowling attack lacked depth, and went through the entirety of day two rarely looking like taking a wicket.
Aside from, once again, James Pattinson, the Australian pace attack lacked penetration and although Peter Siddle and Moises Henriques’ performances were filled with heart and grit, those two attributes don’t take wickets by themselves.
Doherty lacked revolutions, and variety, and although the only two chances of the day aside from Sehwag’s wicket (caught behind off Siddle) came off the Tasmanian’s bowling, Pujara and Vijay losing concentration was to blame rather than any wilyness of the bowler.
After the first Test, and the first two days in Hyderabad, the Australian cricketing community will look forward to the justification behind said selections, as is it hard to fathom for the average fan.
Dropping Starc can be substantiated adequately; the young left-armer struggled in the first Test and needs to rethink his plans to succeed on subcontinent wickets.
It could be said too that on its own Lyon’s axing is fair, but only if it had been the only change to the line-up.
Rightly or wrongly, it is clear that the selection panel wanted a second spinner in the line-up after the catastrophe in Chennai but why then, do Inverarity and his men have the best spinner in the country sitting on the sidelines?
Despite Lyon struggling in the first Test, he is still the country’s best spinning option, and in the squad selected Doherty is second in line. So doesn’t it make sense that Starc would axed in favour of Doherty, and some faith showed in Lyon?
Despite rumours of a metaphorical black line being struck through his name, it is obvious now more than ever how much NSW skipper Stephen O’Keefe needed to be on that plane.
Having proved himself at shield level, particularly this season – O’Keefe is the leading spinning wicket-taker in the competition, with 17 at 27 – along with the injuries to Michael Beer and Jon Holland and his ability as a lower-order batsman O’Keefe should clearly be Lyon’s Indian deputy, which makes his absence even more bewildering.
Chirpiness, overconfidence and arrogance have been labelled as the reasons behind the 28 year old’s non-inclusion, as these attributes will be detrimental to the team’s dynamic.
Team dynamic though, is built on and based around results, so perhaps it should be priority number one to win games to ensure a winning culture is built around the team.
For this to happen, the best possible line-up must be picked for each Test and, unfortunately, it seems impossible for the current selectors to get it right.
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