Australia won the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Image: x
India vs Australia: The Indian team, struggling with the poor form of its top players, was eliminated from the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) with a six-wicket defeat in the fifth and final Test here on Sunday, while Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years with this win. Made it to the WTC final by winning 3-1.
The Indian team, which is going through a difficult phase of change, will now have to do a lot of introspection after returning home. Whereas defending champion Australia will now play the WTC final against South Africa at Lord’s from 11 to 15 June. If captain Jasprit Bumrah had been in a position to bowl despite the stiffness in his back, the target of 162 runs would have been difficult, but in his absence, defending this score at the Sydney Cricket Ground was almost impossible.
Bumrah was named player of the series for taking 32 wickets in five matches but it was no consolation for India’s poor performance. “It’s a bit disappointing but sometimes you have to respect your body,” Bumrah said during the post-match awards ceremony on his inability to bowl in the second innings. You can’t fight your body. Disappointing, missed bowling on probably the best wicket of the series.
In the absence of Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna (three wickets for 65 runs) and Mohammed Siraj (one wicket for 69 runs) failed to put pressure on the host team’s batsmen, while Virat Kohli, playing the role of captain, continued to trust these two fast bowlers. . Despite some successes, Krishna and Siraj bowled many bad balls and the hosts were reduced to four wickets in 27 overs, thanks to the innings of opener Usman Khawaja (41), Travis Head (34 not out) and debutant Beau Webster (39 not out). Won by scoring 162 runs. Along with this, India’s over-dependence on Bumrah was also exposed.
Bumrah attempted to bowl during the morning warm-up session but he was not feeling comfortable and his unavailability meant that it would be impossible for India to defend the small target. Earlier, Scott Boland (six wickets for 45 runs) and captain Pat Cummins (three wickets for 44 runs) bowled out India for just 157 runs in 39.5 overs in the second innings.
If Rishabh Pant’s 61 runs and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 22 runs are excluded, the other nine players collectively contributed 74 runs. The Indian team lost its remaining four wickets after adding only 16 runs in the morning session. This series will force a lot of thought for those officials of the Indian cricket world who are responsible for organizing the country’s team.
India failed to reach the 200-run mark in six completed innings in the series so there is no need to explain what went wrong on the tour. Regular captain Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli struggled to get a single good innings throughout the season due to technical problems. Yashasvi Jaiswal (391 runs) remained the top scorer for India despite being out for zero thrice. He is followed by debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy (298 runs), Lokesh Rahul (276 runs) and Rishabh Pant (255 runs).
Regarding the poor form of Rohit and Kohli, it cannot be denied that it is becoming difficult for both the giants to stop the decline in their batting. There are some good young players in the team and they should be given the opportunity to develop over time in the new World Test Championship cycle. While tough decisions await Kohli and Rohit, the BCCI top brass should also seriously consider whether coach Gautam Gambhir is the right person to take over the responsibility across all formats.
Under Gambhir, India has lost six out of 10 Tests this season. Apart from this, the team had to face defeat in the ODI series in Sri Lanka. If Kohli and Rohit are held responsible then Gambhir cannot be left out just because the team is going through a period of change. The stubborn attitude of the head coach is known to everyone and due to this the players are not being very comfortable with him in the dressing room.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement after Brisbane and Rohit’s decision to exclude himself was sudden. Tampering with a player’s tactics is not the best way to manage, as Pant demonstrated at times by being too cautious which disrupted his natural rhythm. But more than batting, both pace and spin bowling will be a matter of big concern for the national selection committee and the team management.
Bumrah’s absence showed what India was missing on the final day of the series, even though Australia had the upper hand. As Glenn McGrath said, if Bumrah had not taken 32 wickets, the margin of India’s defeat would have been greater. In Brisbane the visitors were saved by rain and in Melbourne Rohit let the game slip away during the final session on the fourth day.
It took 36 Test matches for Mohammed Siraj to complete 100 wickets and these figures are not very good. Akash Deep is still new but has potential while Prasidh Krishna bowls quite easy balls along with difficult balls. Harshit Rana is not quite ready for this level and will have to play a lot of Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and India A matches to get ready for the big Test. In the spin department, Ravindra Jadeja is now more of a batsman and less of a spinner unless there is help from the wicket from day one.
Leaving aside Washington Sundar’s 12 wickets in Pune, he is more of a batsman than a capable off-spinner on batting-friendly wickets. The only positive from the series is that Jaiswal is emerging as the next batting superstar and Nitish Reddy has shown glimpses of talent. If Reddy’s bowling improves, India will get a chance to play with three spinners on good pitches at home.
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