With the Test series now out of grasp of Australians, they must ensure to keep fighting even with depleted resources. Let’s be honest. Australia have been very disappointing in this series. They have been chaotic, both on and off the field really. Some key players getting injured right at the start of the series has added to the woes. But there are other key points that a visiting side must consider when they tour India. The first major point is the importance of the warm-up game.
Before the Border-Gavaskar series, there was a lot of talk around how Australia wanted to prepare for the conditions in India. They had made a big decision of not playing a warm-up game. In my view, at least one warm-up game, especially on a tour of India, is a must. If you are an Australian or an English side going to India, a warm-up game must be played to get the feel of the conditions and get into similar match situations you may encounter ahead. Merely batting and bowling in nets is not going to give you the same idea.
Also, I am a big fan of consultants. But here, the timing of consulting someone from outside the coaching staff matters too. Having consultants during the Test series is again a bad idea for a team. But the touring side can always hire the services of a subject expert before the start of the tour, who works with the team in the preparation period and not during the series. All the suggestions and opinions must come before the start of the series and not when it is on. You don’t want too many opinions in the dressing room. A team does better with a calmer dressing room.
Return of Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green will help Aussies; here’s how
Mitchell Starc is expected to make a comeback, which is a good news for Australia as they need him desperately. He can make things slightly tougher for the India batters, with the new as well as with the old ball, with reverse swing coming into play. One of the big strengths for India in this series had been the success of batters Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. The runs scored by the middle and late middle order have really dented Aussies in both the matches. If Starc plays and bowls well then that might not help India to score runs late down the batting order. Starc can make things tougher for the likes of Jadeja, Axar and Ashwin with the reverse-swinging old ball.
The other thing with Starc playing is that he is going to create footmarks for off-spinners Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon, something I had mentioned in my last article as well. Lyon generally bowls wide of the off stump and Starc’s footmarks are going to help him more than others. The footmarks are going to help Ashwin too but Lyon is going to get more benefit from it. That’s why I feel that the Lyon-Starc combination is going to be a real lift for Australia.
Assuming Cameron Green is playing the third Test, it will bring back the balance of the team which is crucial in these conditions. At the same time, it is important to note that Green has not played any cricket for a while and subcontinent is not the easiest of places in the world to come in from an injury and hit your straps straightaway with both bat and ball. Let’s be realistic and not burden him with far-fetched expectations. But it will be great to see him make a comeback.
Difficult time for Pat Cummins and his family and he needs to be supported by the board, fans and everyone equally. He made absolutely the right decision to stay back with his family during this tough period.
I thought long and hard on who should be leading in absence of Cummins and reached a conclusion that while Travis Head is a good option looking at the future, handing over the captaincy to Steve Smith is the correct call. Smith is the right man to lead purely because what Australia need right now is calmness and authority. The team needs someone who has done the job before. There is a bit more stability about the appointment of Smith as captain. If we were heading into the fourth Test match and Australia were 0-3 down, one could have been forced to think otherwise. But at this point of time, Smith is the right man.
It is also important that Aussie batters compete in the remaining two Tests. Marnus Labuschagne and Smith are the two best batters in the Australian team. India have dominated but it is also true that Smith and Labuschagne compet ed in this series with the bat. Unfortunately, from Australia’s perspective, not for long enough. And I think that is something that they need to investigate.
Labuschagne has got starts but has not converted the scores into big ones. Smith is one of the best batters in the world and he must bat his side out of trouble here. As captain now, he must also demand from senior batters like Khawaja to step up and come good in the remainder of the series.
KL Rahul in place of Shubman Gill is a right choice now
I wanted Shubman Gill to play right from the first Test as he was in a terrific form. But India stuck with KL Rahul as they wanted to give him more opportunities. But I believe he has run out of them now. Shubman should play the Indore Test. I think one more reason behind Rahul’s backing was his position as vice-captain in the team. The whole vice-captaincy thing confused the dressing room a little bit, I believe. In my view, it is an overrated position in a cricket team. The captain, anyway, goes to the senior players in the team for support before making tough decisions. Now with Rahul losing that position, it is time for Gill to come back into XI to try and make it his permanently.
I am sure India are not thinking that they can roll over Australia again despite their dominant show in the last two matches. They won’t take things for granted. But one thing is for sure that Indian batters will be desperate to score big hundreds in the remaining two Tests. This is a star studded batting lineup, and they must aim to score big runs against a side that is a bit down.
