Gone are the days when Team India would tour Australia to provide them match practice for the upcoming Ashes and got bulldozed by the majestic Australian Bowling attack.
Team India has certainly changed for good as Team India boasts of a high quality reserve bench who can win a match on their own. The massive infrastructure development has done the trick for Board of Control in Cricket in India(BCCI).
Some Australian legends including Ricky Ponting and Mark Waugh have written India off from the remaining Test Series. The absence of Captain Kohli and ace pacer Mohammed Shami would hurt Team India big as they were reeling from the mammoth crushing defeat in the first test.
But the table has turned for the Aussies as they were not prepared for the attacking field positioning by Captain Rahane. The perfect bowling changes and the field setting did wonder for Team India. The good thing about Rahane’s captaincy is he lets the bowler set the fielders according to their strategy.
Yesterday, I was reading a blog of legendary cricketer Erapalli Prasanna. He said this field setting reminded him of the good old days as Captain Pataudi used to set field like this. He mentioned the dismissal of Steve Smith. It was well-strategic bowling by R.Ashwin. Smith is very strong in his on-side. Instead of bowling him in off-side like the traditional off-spinners, Ashwin instead bowled him in on-side, his strong area. Smith misjudged the turn and flicked it towards backward short leg.
The ace cricketer als mentioned the toss as Autralia literally gifted the match to India. When in MCG, you win the toss and bowl first as the conditions compliment the bowlers. The spinners are also getting a good amount of turn as we see Captain Rahane brings Ashwin quite early.
The team selection committee needs special mention as they select the right replacements for Virat Kohli and Shami. Shubhman Gill fits right in the opening slot and plays an impressive debut knock, stopped 5 runs behind the much-deserved half-century mark. The calm and composed Rahane takes the baton in his firm hand and paves the way for a glorious finish for Team India. For the trivia, Rahane stands as the second Indian batsman after Vinoo Makad to score two test tons at MCG.
The skipper finishes at 112 after being run out by a few centimetres. The other name that needs to be mentioned is Sir Ravindra Jadeja(forgive the pun). The most underrated and unpredictable cricketer, Jadeja, has two triple tons in Indian Domestic Cricket. Still he misses the test squad selection quite often. Unlike his limited over batting, Jadeja plays the apt supporting role in this 121-run partnership. He hardly goes overboard and plays the utmost copybook cricket shots. Risabh Pant started well and threw away his wicket at a crucial juncture.
The bowling has been phenomenal. Bumrah and Ashwin are the show-stealers as usual. The surprise comes in Siraj, his aggressive approach with perfect line and length does not give the impression that this is his test debut. Jadeja shines with his bowling figures too, picking two wickets including the controversial dismissal of skipper Paine. The hotspot shows no spike but the snickometer shows spike, Paine was in complete disgust walking back.
Australia takes a 2 run lead thanks to a 34 run partnership between Pat Cummins and Cameron Green. Though it is quite early to say, but India has started smelling the victory. It is a good podium to level the series 1-1 after a disastrous first test at Adelaide.
