Just a blip or a catastrophe?

Australians were on top when the stock market shut on Friday afternoon. Two days later, they were staring at an embarrassment by the time it was supposed to reopen on Monday. Every session belonged to India apart from the first two as India road rushed to a massive win at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Bumrah won the toss and bravely decided to bat first. Australians tore through the top order and bowled India out for 150 after a blitz from Nitish Kumar Reddy. The pitch had enough for bowlers but what followed was a display of mind-boggling fast bowling from the best bowler in world cricket. Usman Khawaja walked to the crease with the debutant Nathan McSweeney in the hope of negotiating the new ball. McSweeney didn't last for long as he was trapped in front by Bumrah. Two balls later he found the edge of Labuschagne's bat only to be dropped by Virat Kohli in 2nd slip. Bumrah nicked Khawaja and caught Smith plumb in front on 2 consecutive balls. Labuschagne's 52 ball struggle finally came to an end when he missed a nip backer from Siraj. Australia folded for 104 on the second morning. Bumrah made 150 look like a distant reality for Australia and finished with 5 for 30 in 18 overs. Rahul and Jaiswal looked comfortable in the second dig. They batted the entirety of the last two sessions to leave India ahead by 218 runs by the end of day 2. Jaiswal got to his hundred with an uppercut to Josh Hazlewood. He went on to score 61 more before finally cutting one straight to point, ending one of the most memorable knocks ever played by an Indian in Australia. KL scored a stroke-filled compact 77. Kohli, in dire need of runs, found allies in Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy on his way to a much-desired hundred to grind Australia to dirt. Bumrah declared the innings on 487 with a lead of 533, leaving Australia to bat for about 20 minutes on day 3. Whatever that could have gone wrong, went wrong for the hosts. Nathan McSweeney took strike against Jasprit Bumrah in the fading light after having fielded for 150 overs. A horrible debut for him came to a conclusion after he was trapped in front by Bumrah again. Having already sacrificed the debutant, the leader chose himself to go out as a nightwatchman instead of Nathan Lyon. Cummins nicked Siraj off to second slip immediately. It was a brave but stupid decision in hindsight. Perhaps sending one more as a shield to number three was too unethical and there was Marnus Labuschagne at number four with 10 minutes to stumps. A big 'nooo runnnn' on the first ball followed by a confident off-drive for three runs, Marnus didn't look as jittery as he did in the first innings. It all changed when he faced Bumrah in the next over. He set Labuschagne up with an outswinger and then bowled the one that swung back in. Marnus's reluctance to lay bat on ball in the first innings cost him in the second innings. He decided to leave the ball on length and the ball stayed low, about knee height. He was stone dead. The only reason he could have reviewed it is if he wanted to have a look at the replay on the giant screen and he did review it. There was nothing that could have saved him. The review probably saved Steve Smith as the clock ticked over and stumps were called. Everyone knew the result before a ball was bowled on the fourth day. It was just a matter of how Australia met its fate. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh counter-attacked for a couple of hours but Australia were eventually bowled out for 238, falling short by 295 runs of their pursuit.

When did we last see an Australian team that had given up before the match was finished? Probably last year in Manchester when England scored more than 500 at 6 runs an over. But that had no effect on the result as the match ended in a draw thanks to heavy rain. They have been made to look clueless in India many times, at least twice on every tour in recent years. The last time it happened in Australia was definitely against South Africa in Hobart when Kyle Abbott bowled them out for 83. De Kock smashed a century and South Africa won by an innings inside three days. They lost that series in 7 days as it sparked the national batting crisis. If that wasn't bad enough, this was even worse. The top order was a concern for Australia coming into the series. If anything, it was aggravated to another level after the first test. Khawaja, McSweeney, Labuschagne, and Smith scored a combined total of 44 runs across 8 innings of the match. They all looked alarmingly disturbed against Jasprit Bumrah. It was cruel on Nathan McSweeney to make his debut against Bumrah on a quick Perth pitch. He had never opened against the red ball before the India 'A' series. This could have a demoralizing effect on his career as he has to face Bumrah every time he opens in this series.

The bigger problems lie at numbers 3 and 4, Marnus being the more serious concern. He was the most prolific batter in world cricket from 2019 to 2022. His numbers have fallen off drastically and the confidence with it. Marnus has gone from being a fidgety number who was scoring runs consistently with a very compact technique to a spineless and strokeless wonder. The reluctance to score in the first innings was shocking. After a series of failures, it now seems necessary for him to score runs in Adelaide in order to keep his place for Brisbane, his hometown. Steve Smith has looked a shadow of himself for the last couple of years. After having no golden ducks in his career, he now has two in the last five innings. The technique that had worked so well for him for almost a decade has started to look like the primary reason for his downfall. Everyone hoped for Smith to miss the odd straight ball but never missed in the five years when he was invincible and by far the best test batsman in the world. Smith is relying on the hand-eye coordination of a 21-year-old old which isn't quite working right now.

The spine of Australian batting has been their middle order since the home ashes in 2021. Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Alex Carey have been phenomenal in the recent past. The problem with this series is that they might find themselves at the crease sooner than expected because of Bumrah who is well complimented by Siraj. There are already demons in the Australian minds who are in for a long and nasty series if Bumrah stays fit and healthy for all five tests. He will be lethal with the pink ball under lights. Brisbane will be very similar to Perth and Bumrah already has a fantastic record at the MCG. In contrast, the Aussie quicks have bowled a lot more in comparison. All of them are on the other side of 30 and it will take a massive toll on their bodies. If India win the toss and bat first in Adelaide, the hosts could be in serious danger of going two-nil down which will indeed attract a lot of discussions. 

Bashed by his own greatness

There is no one at the moment who can look down upon Rohit Sharma as a test match opener. Judging by the inconsistent start that he had, it was very fanciful to imagine 5 years ago that he could be as good as he has become in the longer format. It is funny that there are better limited overs batsmen than Rohit at the moment but none better when it comes to opening the batting in test match cricket. Nasser Hussain said years ago that if Rohit Sharma doesn't crack test match cricket, there is something not right with Indian Cricket. Someone said that test cricket needed Rohit more than Rohit needed test cricket. It is somewhat true because a limited overs superstar as talented as Rohit Sharma not succeeding at test cricket just didn't feel comfortable. 

    Harsha Bhogle has said this on commentary a few times that if Rohit Sharma plays two shots in the entire innings, you remember both. He is a unique batsman in so many ways. He is almost timeless. Nothing seems to hurry him up, not a yorker bowled at searing pace and certainly not a bouncer. He didn't really do anything in his first six years as an international cricketer apart from scoring 30s and getting out cheaply on a regular basis. Then MS asked him to open and he flourished in limited overs cricket. He is only second to Kohli since 2013 and at times better than him. Rohit is amongst the very few batsmen I have seen who can play with exactly the same technique in both the formats. Even after disappointing himself and the country so many times, he hasn't changed the technique and yet done extremely well at test cricket. When he didn't get many runs in South Africa in 2018, there were serious doubts on his future as a red ball batsman. With Shikhar Dhawan not really in the picture, asking Rohit to open was I think the last roll of the dice for him. If ever he could prove himself, it was this series. Again it made sense because of the immense success he has had in the shorter formats as an opener, it was only appropriate that he had a go at it. Rohit scored a doubly century and another ton in a one sided series win for India. With India 1-0 down to England at home, he produced one of the better hundreds ever seen on Indian soil to help India level the series in Chennai. He has been a heavy run getter in India all the time but then he got runs in England in 2021 which included a third innings century at the Oval in extremely testing conditions against Broad, Anderson and an in-form Ollie Robinson. 

     After a fiasco at the 2021 T20 World Cup and a bruising loss in the semifinal of the 2022 World T20, Rohit did regain his white ball form against New Zealand at home. But having not played any test cricket for almost a year, not many gave Rohit a chance against Australia in the first test. What he did on that pitch was simply spectacular. When no one else till that point seemed to have the measure of the pitch, he strolled out in the middle and started as it was no real deal to him. He smashed Cummins in the first 5 overs to give India the headstart and then steadied himself to play a fine knock of 120. It must rank amongst the top three knocks he has played for India. 

     Rohit goes about his business in an understated magesty. There is nothing about Rohit that is demonstratively great. He doesn't demonstrate his greatness with how he walks or how he talks or how he lives life. There are many great sportspersons who just let you know that they are great by everything they do. Rohit is almost shy of his own greatness. He is bashful about his genius. It looks as if it's not a part of his character and being great is out of his character. That's why he sometimes gives us the impression that he isn't trying too hard or he is being lazy about it. Well if you can say that a guy is making it look ridiculously easy when everyone else is hardly buying a run, that's the greatest compliment a batsman can be given. I get an impression that sometimes even he doesn't realize how special he is. For example, his knock in Nagpur was so perfect that when he tried to leave the first ball of the innings, he still middled it and got it away for a boundary. When Rohit bats, time seems to stop. His economy movement is just out of this world. He always seems to be in the right position to play any shot. The fact that he's not fat but he is certainly not thin adds a nice touch to it. He is conscious about his fitness but he is not a stereotypical champion with an aesthetically fit physique. He is just a raw talent which has been dazzling in front of world cricket for many years in the white ball formats and it's profoundly relieving to say that he has become a prolific test cricketer as well. It is still baffling beyond words and beyond everyone's understanding how he has played only 46 tests in 10 years. We hope to get to see a few more years of him as a test cricketer. 

Things looking grim & nasty for David Warner

    With just a solitary ton in the last 3 years as a test cricketer and an average no greater than 30 since 2021, David Warner is well on his decline as a red ball batsman. After three tours to the Indian subcontinent in the span of 10 years, he is still getting out to the same bowler in a very identical way. His reaction when he found out that the DRS has upheld the onfield decision of 'out' in the second innings in Nagpur was pretty telling. He kept looking at the screen and had a grim smile on his face as he walked back. Its one of the many cliches in cricket that its okay to get out to good deliveries. What is peculiar about David Warner is that he is not getting runs even on Australian wickets where he has historically produced runs as if it was no real trouble to him. He got a couple of scores of 90s in the Ashes of 2021-22. Apart from the 200 he got on the boxing day last year, he doesn't even have a fifty at home which is a really worrying scenario taking into consideration that the Aussies hosted the West Indies last summer. With all due respect, the Windies don't have a potent bowling attack to stop Aussie batsmen from scoring runs on true Australian pitches. Warner was getting out cheaply where everyone else didn't seem to find it difficult to bat. 'The Bull', as they call him in Australia, has always found a place in the touring Australian sides on the back of his performances in the home summer. As the numbers could tell, his record in England is almost as bad as his record in Asia.

    'Tired' and 'exhausted' were the words he used to describe his mental and physical state before coming to India. He does look mentally fatigued and short of confidence. If ever there was one thing you could use as a superlative for David Warner, it was his confidence. Even after failing miserably in England in 2019, he went back to Australia and scored the runs in the same attacking manner. Its predominantly a limited overs batting technique he has which works brilliantly on pitches where there is true bounce and carry. David Warner is brilliant driving on the up and with horizontal bat shots on both sides of the wicket. As long as the ball behaves itself, he gets runs and gets them quickly. When the ball starts doing something in the air or after pitching, that's where he has always struggled throughout his career. After watching him in the first test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy where he had two really short stays in the middle, I just got the feeling that he really meant it when he said that 2023 could be his last year in international cricket. He is very close to his family and ageing does make things different for a lot of sportsmen. By looking at the way he played Ashwin in Nagpur and with the pitches not getting any better, I really do fear that it's going to be a long tour of David Warner. He doesn't look comfortable when Shami is opening the bowling coming around the wicket and he just looks petrified of facing Ashwin. Even though Australia don't have a better replacement, I just have a feeling that Matt Renshaw could be opening with Usman Khawaja in the last test which could mean that David Warner might not make it to the end of this series.

    This is the same David Warner who smashed South Africa in the mighty 'G' on his T20 debut ages ago. This is the same David Warner who scored heaps of runs in South Africa in 2014 after a very successful Ashes series at home. This is the same David Warner who was banned from playing cricket by the ICC for a year and came back to find his place in all three Australian sides. There is no one denying that he is in the twilight of his career. He is 37 years old and short of runs. It won't be easy but I really do hope that Warner gets some runs in this series and makes it to England for the Ashes. Because watching a batsman as good as him go out on his all time low would be very painful as a cricket romantic. 

The Greatest 4 weeks in Indian Cricket History

Whitewash after Adelaide or 3-1 after Melbourne or 2-1 after Sydney, the predictions finally found it's conclusions only after India, without the first chocie XI, had destroyed, demolished and butchered a full strength Australian team and conquered their fortress GABBA. The cricket played by the Indians was so fitting that the pitch that had not seen Australia lose in 32 long years chose to stay true to the quality of cricket. Even after winning in Melbourne after the debacle in Adelaide and playing out 131 overs for a draw, many including myself doubted India's chances on the final day of the series. As much as we wanted India to win, statistically it was next to impossible. They were chasing the highest ever total at the Gabba against the best bowling attack in the world with an inexperienced batting line up at a ground where Australia hadn't lost for 3 decades. Everything was stacked against them, quite literally everything! What happens after Rohit Sharma gets out? Shubman gill gets runs. Pujara digs in. Rahane gets a few and then walks out Rishabh Pant, the nail that has been in Australia's coffin ever since he made his debut. Criticized for his performance behind the stumps, he proved that he is not as bad in front of the stumps. Pant danced down the track to Nathan Lyon, pulled Starc and Cummins and he also drove Hazlewood through covers, literally dismantling the most famed bowling attack in world cricket. What about Washington Sundar? I 21 year boy from Tamil Nadu who could never have thought in his wildest dreams that he would be making his debut in this series. His 4 wickets and over 80 runs in the match mean as much as Rishabh Pant's 89. Every one of them contributed to their fullest and produced probably the greatest Indian test victory ever. After the ever animated, the best batsman in the world and the charistamatic figure of Virag Kohli left the Australian shores, the contrasting personality of Ajinkya Rahane took over this team and has silently led them their greatest test series win in history. 

Greg Chappell always said that if India get their act together, they will have 3 test teams and nobody will ever beat them again. This series was so testimonial to this statement that no superlative can describe this win. A lot of credit has to go the BCCI for a very planned scheduling of India A tours which has a played massive part in youngsters playing like rabbits in the headlights. This indian team has got the right to have a page all about themselves if ever there is a book written on Indian Cricket.

Adelaide was a debacle.

Melbourne was a never-seen-before comeback.

Sydney was grit. 

Brisbane was unprecedented, unachievable and unthinkable.

Well played team India.

Virat Kohli and his inhuman statistics!

Decades ago they questioned whether Sir Donald Bradman was a human or not. They actually had his eyesight checked only to know that it was just as normal as anybody else. Later Sir Don told that he used to play with the golf ball and a stick against the wall because he had nobody to play with in his childhood as he lived very far from town. May be that was the secret behind his incredible hand-eye coordination. Sachin Tendulkar has some inhuman records but nobody in India has questioned whether is a human or not because for the Indians, he is a certified God, isn't he? What about Virat Kohli then? is he a human? He walks on two legs, holds the bat with two hands and sees the ball with two eyes only but his numbers and achievements are inhuman! His impact has been second to none. I am a big fan of numbers and just to give you a perspective-

40 ODI hundreds in 216 innings
33 in winning course
24 while chasing
10 hundreds in his last 25 innings
5 in the past 12 months

These are just a few numbers which are enough to let you know what I want to! A century per 5-6 innings in test match cricket is a good ratio but a century per five and half innings in ODIs is an unreal stat. Average of almost 60 after so many games is an unprecedented number in itself. But right now, he has bigger responsibility upon his shoulders. We have seen on number of times that when India's top 3 don't fire, India generally succumbs to defeat. Dhawan is not in great form. Rohit is a great player but he even after so many years of cricket, his runs are not guaranteed. Kohli is the only player in this Indian team who can bat on any surface and make batting look easy but more importantly, take India to a respectable total. It is needless to say that he is the best player in the world and is probably the greatest to have ever played One Day Cricket. His statistics are beyond explaination. Although numbers are a very definitive parameter in judging one's success, it's the performances and what he did for the team is what everyone remembers. That is why the aura of Virat Kohli is even more special as he has produced memorable performances throughout his career. Whether it be the 183 against Pakistan or the blazing 130 in Hobart or be it any of his 24 hundreds while chasing, Virat's contribution to team's success is unmatched. Dare I say, his impact is even greater than the great Sachin Tendulkar himself and it's crystal clear that 'the day' is not far away! Let go the record 49 ODI hundreds, he might end up scoring 20 more!

The best slower ball I have ever seen!

The series was level at 1-1 and the action had turned to the mighty MCG. India had won a close one at the Adelaide Oval while Australia had dominated at Perth. Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat on a typical flat wicket at the MCG. Mayank Agarwal, on his debut, showed great sense of promise as he went on his way to score a silky 70. But it was Pujara and Kohli's time to take over the spotlight as they combined a brilliant partnership to put India in a very strong position at the end of day 1. The grind continued on the second day as India took the score well in excess on 400. Australia survived some nervy overs at the end of day 2. Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch took guard again on day 3 morning but little did they know that Jasprit Bumrah was going to rip through them on such a slow wicket. Ishant Sharma got the wicket of Aaron Finch, caught brilliantly at short mid wicket by Mayank Agarwal, diving low to his left! Bumrah was bowling to Marcus Harris who he had already hit on the head, once in Adelaide and again in Perth. Bumrah came around the wicket and bowled a rapid bouncer. He tried to hook only to end up being in Ishant Sharma's big palms at deep fine leg. Kerry O'keefe was furious in the 'fox' commentary box-' Harris wanted four for that on an inconsistent bouncing pitch, that is a poor shot selection boys!' (in the typical Kerry O'keefe accent). Jadeja had Khawaja caught at forward short leg for not too many as Bumrah came back for another burst just before the lunch break. Shaun Marsh had settled in and looked quite good. Bumrah was bowling the last over before lunch and it is fair to say that he set up Shaun Marsh like never before. A couple of good length deliveries followed by a couple of balls nipping away and here he was steaming in for the last ball before lunch with all of 10000 Indians behind him. What Shaun Marsh must have been expecting? A short ball? Another good length delivery? At the most a fast Yorker at 145! What did Bumrah deliver? A slow yorker at 119! "A big slower one! Jasprit Bumrah you are brilliant!"- louded Shane Warne from the commentary box, a big fan of his! Wow that was something out of the world from Jasprit Bumrah. A slower one without any change in the action. It dipped on Shaun Marsh and hit him low on his front pad on the full. It was so well disguised that Marsh was through with the shot yesterday afternoon! Marsh was stunned as he kept looking down with a sense of admiration towards the bowler.
     Australia resumed after lunch at 89-4 and Jasprit Bumrah was at it once again. Travis Head had looked good throughout the series and he was looking good once again at the MCG. He was negotiating Bumrah quite well from over the wicket with ball going away. Bumrah decided to come around the wicket and the first ball he bowled was on the money. Boom! A snorter of a full pitched delivery at 143 and the timber was disturbed. Travis Head was very late through the shot as he was done for pace on a slow wicket. Australian captain was the next to go as he edged one to young Rishabh Pant to give Bumrah his fourth wicket. Shami went straight through Patrick Cummins just when everybody was talking about how good a defence he has got. Australia were 8 down with just about 150 on the board. Bumrah came back for another spell as he had his sight set on a five for and a potential six for. We know by now that Nathan Lyon is a credible batsman but even the great AB de Villiers had succumbed to Bumrah's yorker so Lyon wasn't a great deal for Bumrah, was he? A rapid toe crusher was always going to be more than good enough and it was. It hit Lyon flush in front as Australia found themselves 9 down. We have to admit that Josh Hazlewood is a pretty good number 11, better than most of India's number 11s. But the old trick of a couple of bouncers followed by a yorker was too smart for poor Josh as he had himself clean bowled to give Bumrah a six for. His figures read as 15.5 - 4 - 33 - 6. Quite stunning, isn't it? He gave India a huge lead which set up a memorable victory for India in Australia. It was certainly one of the best spells of out and out fast bowling from an Indian pacer I have ever seen.

Virat Kohli and the year 2018: A cricketing romance at its imperious best....

Often we say that 'that' year defined a cricketer's career or in this case a batsman's career. With the tours of South Africa, England and Australia scheduled back-to-back, it wasn't going to be easy for any batsman let alone Virat Kohli. But how good was he across formats and across conditions? We saw the best batsman in the world at the peak of his powers dictating the terms in some of the toughest conditions for batting. Be it the masterly 153 he scored at the Supersport Park on a slow and low wicket or be it his first ever test century in England at Edgebaston or the match winning knock at Trent Bridge or a gritty ton at Perth which is one for the ages really, every one of them was special snd different in one way or the other. They say that numbers don't tell you everything but don't forget that numbers are one of the most important parameters in judging one's success. So what do Virat Kohli's numbers tell us? He was the only batsman to notch up a 1000 runs in test cricket this year, scoring 1322 runs at an average of 55 with 5 centuries and as many fifties. 'The King' also officially became the number 1 batsman in the world during the England tour. With regular failures haunting various Indian openers, Kohli was there to face the new cherry more often than not and boy, didn't he handle it well? King Kohli was at it all of the times. More than the runs he scored, the atmosphere around the stadium when Kohli was in was absolutely stunning everywhere. Virat was welcomed with a few boos here and there but understandably so because everyone knew that the best in the world had come to the crease to haunt every one of them. There was a sense of theatre and drama when Kohli hung around for a while and a lovely story unfolded everytime with every stroke that came out of Kohli's MRF. From gorgeous cover drives to the perfect on drives to some thunderous pulls, he was in command of everything he did. All of his centuries were brilliant but the two innings which I will never forget were the ones he played in Johannesburg, a fifty and a forty! Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first on a spicy one at the Wanderers with India already trailing the series 2-0. Openers departed early as usual and it wasn't easy to bat on. There was some uneven bounce and Rabada and Morkel were bowling on a shoeless outside the off stump just short of a length. Things were difficult but Kohli stamped his authority with a very elegant looking fifty which included some wonderful drives on a hard and bouncy pitch. That provided India some momentum when Pujara was going really well at 0 off 50 balls! The forty he scored in the second innings was even more impressive. The pitch gad started to go up and down but he had the courage to get his front foot forward and drill some drives through the off side. Those two innings at Jo'burg and the innings at Perth were similar in a way. Both pitches were spitting fire in the first place and Kohli was in the firing line straightway. There was some short pitched stuff on both occasions but everytime the ball was pitched up, Kohli was ready to spring on to the front foot and drive. That is what all the great players do. On a difficult wicket, a lesser batsman will see a full delivery pitched outside off stump as a delivery which can not get him out whereas players like Kohli see it as a scoring opportunity and pounce on it! But the most important thing about his test career is that he is vouching for test cricket all over the world with his enthusiasm and passion on the field, which is the need of the hour really!
    What about Kohli in ODIs in 2018? He has dominated the format and has been the number one batsman for some time now. We don't even have to look at the numbers but just to get the feel of it, here are some! Over 1200 runs at a ridiculus average on 132 with 6 centuries in 14 matches. He had a very special tour of South Africa where he scored 558 runs in 6 matches including 3 centuries, all in winning courses. He also breached the 10000 run mark during the home series against the West Indies in which he scored 3 consecutive hundreds, first Indian to do so! With 38 centuries, he now stands behind only Tendulkar and the day is not far away! If Kohli in tests was full of determination and grit, Kohli in ODIs was full of class and rhythm. It seemed as if no one will ever be able to trouble him in the kind of form he was in. There is a sense of urgency in the opposition's camp when Kohli takes guard in ODIs because there isn't a better batsman around! Every bit of his innings has class written all over it. He as good as it can get in ODIs. I didn't see Sir Vivian Richards bat but from the stories of the great man, I get the feeling that Kohli has created a smililar aura of himself with a similar touch of swagger attached to it. It's going to be great fun and an honour to watch the greatest batsman of this generation do some special things in the next 4-5 years.