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.
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