Australia registered a Test win after nine months – their first since their heroics at Durban – to level the ongoing Test series 1-1.
India were outplayed in every department at Perth. This was Australia’s biggest win of the year. It can kick-start their campaign to defend the World Cup title and retain the Ashes.
Certainly, this performance sprung life into this evenly-matched series. The stakes are much higher now for the Boxing Day test from Melbourne.
An Australian win will ensure that India’s wait for a Test series victory down under continues, while an Indian win can be a firm step towards creating history.
The Melbourne Test is over a week away and a run-fest at the ‘G appears likely. Before that, following are a few takeaways from Australia’s dominant win at Perth.
Importance of Nathan Lyon
In my earlier article about takeaways from the Adelaide Test, I talked about Nathan Lyon being the MVP of this team.
His performance at Perth highlighted this claim. On a green top with a few cracks, Lyon bamboozled Indian batsmen in the first innings. While taking five scalps, he led India’s batting collapse as the visitors lost last five wickets for 60 runs.
In the second innings, his wickets of Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Rishabh Pant were instrumental in India getting dismissed for just 140.
Kohli’s first innings dismissal may be controversial, but Lyon oozed class.
Typically when a side visits down under, Australia’s pace attack garners all the attention. From Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, to Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, Australia are always blessed with a terrific pace triplet.
However, this may be one of the first times since Shane Warne that a spinner has emerged as the most potent weapon in Australia’s bowling arsenal.
He has already taken 16 out of 40 Indian wickets. Lyon is seriously hampering India’s quest to a first series win in Australia.
With much improved batting and terrific bowling returns, Lyon is one of the early contenders for Man of The Series trophy as well.
Nathan Lyon bowls (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A fearless Australia is a terrifying Australia
In bettering India at Perth, Australia showcased one of their most thorough performances in every department.
They came in firing all cylinders. Their batsmen stood tall, bowlers made most of the conditions and fielders held on to catches.
Marcus Harris’s fluent 70 and Travis Head and Aaron Finch’s 50s lead Australia to 326 where 275 could have been a par score.
Having their openers perished at under ten, India played catch-up in the first innings. Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane tried to revive the fortunes but losing last 5 wickets for 60 made India trail Australia by 43 runs.
Usman Khwaja led Australia’s second wicket charge with a good 72. Australia’s last wicket added around 36 runs and pushed India’s target to 287 runs in about four sessions.
Rahul and Pujara failed, Lyon masterfully deceived Kohli and Vijay. Rahane perished after a sharp catch by Head. India required 176 more runs on the last day with 5 wickets still in hand.
A lower middle- lower order collapse ensued and Australia won the match by 146 runs.
Even when Mohammad Shami ran through Australia’s middle order on fourth day and Kohli scored a terrific century, Australians never let their shoulders droop.
They kept fighting and got their noses back in front on nearly every presented occasion.
Fearlessness and application alongside talent set Australia apart under the captaincy of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
If this team under Tim Paine can maintain such a fearless approach, we may see something similar at MCG like the Perth test.
India’s spin conundrum amid dominant pace battery
It won’t be very wrong to say now that India lost this Test match even before first ball was bowled.
They got their team selection all messed up as India went with a all-pace battery, relying on Vihari and Vijay’s part-time spin to get the job done on the green track.
Granted India won the Johannesburg and Trent Bridge tests with four or more pacers, they failed to read cracks beneath the Perth Stadium surface.
At Adelaide, Ravi Ashwin’s 85 overs helped divide workload of Indian bowlers and kept them fresh. Alongside his 6 wickets in that match, Ashwin bowled for nearly an entire day and frustrated the Australians.
In Perth, India missed his services. They could have gone for Jadeja but they went for Yadav in a hope that their hit-the-deck bowler can exploit the most out of the green track. This plan failed miserably.
Traditionally, Indian bowling attack was lead by spinners during overseas tours. Lack of classy pacemen hindered India’s prospects on travels where pitches would be pace-friendly.
As pointed in my last article, Indian pacemen have been the most successful this calendar year in the longest format of the game. However at Perth, the Indian bowling attack without a specialist spinner looked confused for a large section of Australia’s batting.
In Melbourne, India will need Ravi Ashwin back or play Ravindra Jadeja as they hope to bounce back in the series and win at the G.
India’s opening debacle
On their travels in 2018, India have gone with Parthiv Patel, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and K L Rahul as openers in ten Tests. During this time, Parthiv scored 16 runs in 1 innings, Rahul has scored 344 runs in 15 innings with a highest score of 149 and three ducks, Dhawan scored 194 runs in ten innings and Vijay has scored 177 runs in 14 innings with three ducks.
This calendar year away from the subcontinent, India’s average opening stand is just under 21, with 63 being the highest, just four 50 runs+ opening stands and three ducks. These statistics are miserable for world’s number one ranked Test side.
Indian openers have struggled to give good starts in this ongoing series. While Pujara hit the bulk of runs at Adelaide, Kohli was terrific at Perth. Prithvi Shaw’s injury could not have come at a worse time for the visitors.
India’s Cheteshwar Pujara celebrates after reaching a century. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
While targeting 287 in the Perth Test, India’s realistic chance would have been with a big opening stand laying foundation for the middle order to build the chase. Rahul perished without scoring and India’s chances went up in the smoke.
Mayank Agarwal has joined Indian test side as a replacement for Shaw. Yet to make his debut in international cricket, Agarwal boasts incredible numbers in India’s recent domestic Ranji Trophy seasons.
At Melbourne, he is likely to replace Vijay or most likely Rahul. India will want to be 11th time lucky as they aim to take a lead to Sydney.
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