The Australian cricket team was outclassed by India in 1st Test match in all the 3 facets of the game. It seemed as if Pat Cummins’ side wasn’t ready for an uphill challenge & took India lightly. Former England cricketer Michael Atherton was unable to believe how the Aussies lost the opening Test match by a mind-boggling margin of 295 runs.
Australia’s bowling unit in 2nd innings was puzzled by the way Yashasvi Jaiswal & KL Rahul displayed one of the great exhibitions of batting. The hosts need to have a plan B as the cricket expert & former Australian wicket-keeper batter Adam Gilchrist was furious for the lack of tactics to make a comeback in the Test match.
A brilliant Test cricket to watch- Michael Atherton
Michael Atherton was interacting with Sky Sports Podcast. Michael Atherton pointed out that the way Australia lost the Test match was quite decisive and stated that the hosts haven’t lost so badly for a long time at their backyard.
“Australia can’t have been beaten like that, that heavily and that badly at home for a long time. That was a real shellacking. But what struck me, a brilliant Test cricket to watch,” said Michael Atherton.
Lack of options for Australia
The decision to make Steven Smith bat in the middle order again hasn’t gone well. Usman Khawaja, the veteran & the debutant Nathan McSweeney didn’t have any great answers to India’s fast bowlers. Steven Smith & Marnus Labuschagne need to grind out the fast bowlers and try to rotate the strike as much as possible which disturbs the rhythm of the bowling unit
It won’t be wrong to say that Australia hasn’t given any fast bowler a long rope and has always made Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins & Josh Hazlewood play most of the Test matches. Even in home Test matches against West Indies & Pakistan, the selectors haven’t tried an exciting young fast bowler as a result Starc, Hazlewood & Cummins look no longer intimidating for Indian batters.
Pat Cummins needs to pull the rabbit out of the hat and bring back the winning spirit back in the team. Mitchell Marsh & Travis Head’s roles in the batting unit are to pummel the bowlers, but that backfired in 1st Test match. Australia got bundled out in 2nd innings for 238 runs in 58.4 overs. Perhaps, Australian batters need to play the traditional Test cricket of waiting for loose deliveries before playing any aggressive brand of cricket commencing from 6th December at Adelaide.