India vs Australia, 2018-19: The mental disintegration shoe is now on the other foot

India are on the cusp of creating history in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at Sydney. Leading the series 2-1, India declared their first innings closed at 622 for 7. In reply, Australia are 122 for 1 at lunch on day three. Australia are still 300 runs away from the follow-on target. India just need a draw at Sydney to achieve their first ever series win in Australia.For India, Chateshwar Pujara moved from 130 to 193 on the second day and was unlucky to miss out on a double hundred. But, the unexpected hero was Rishabh Pant who remained not out on 159 which came off just 189 balls with the help of 15 fours and one six.Rishabh Pant became the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a century in AustraliaPant showed a lot of maturity in his batting as he was keen on taking the singles and giving the strike back to Pujara as long as he was at the wicket. But the moment Pujara got out, Pant took over and started smacking the Australian bowlers to all parts of the ground.Pant’s first 50 came off 85 balls while his next 109 runs came off just 104 balls at more than run a ball. Pant was lucky to have Ravindra Jadeja at the other end who showed a lot of patience in his innings of 81.Pant and Jadeja were involved in a record 204-run partnership for the seventh wicket. In the process, Pant, playing only in his fourth Test in Australia, became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a century in Australia.Jadeja was involved in a double century partnership with PantAt the Oval Test last year, Pant became the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test match. Besides, with the glove, Pant was involved in the dismissal of 20 Australian batsmen which again was a record by an Indian wicket-keeper.When the second day started, India were in a comfortable position at 303 for 4, were still far away from securing the match. Australia had the second new ball in hand and were lucky to get the wicket of Hanuma Vihari through an error of judgment from the TV umpire. All they needed at that stage was to get one more wicket to get into the Indian late-order which has not shown any patience with the bat in the series.Watch: Hanuma Vihari wrongly given out in a controversial mannerBut for some strange reasons, the Australian captain deployed defensive tactics and thereby played into the hands of the Indian batsmen. It was India who were sitting pretty with a lead in the series. The only way Australia could have come back into the match at the start of the second day was by setting the attacking field and by terminating the Indian first innings to a premature closure.But that didn’t happen as Paine was playing the waiting game which suited India perfectly. As it turned out, the double century partnership between Pant and Jadeja took the game and the series away from Australia. Finally, Australia had the mortification of taking the third new ball in the Indian first innings.When the series started, it was the Australian batting which was under scrutiny in the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith. The Australians had a potent bowling attack with the presence of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Nathan Lyon.But as the series progressed, the Indian batsmen led by Chateshwar Pujara, slowly started to dominate the Australian bowling. The Indian domination was complete at Sydney when the Aussie bowlers were made to toil for two days bowling 167 overs for just seven wickets. The bowlers were finally grounded to the dust. The ordeal is not over yet as Kohli might not enforce the follow-on to complete the process of mental disintegration.Turning back, on numerous occasions, in their earlier tours to Australia, the Indian bowlers were subjected to a huge dose of mental disintegration. Actually, the word “Mental Disintegration” in cricket was coined by the Australian Captain Steve Waugh as a euphemism to sledging. Now all the Indian fans are extremely happy to see the mental disintegration shoe on the other foot. In this series, it is the Indians who are using the disintegration tactic to utmost perfection.As we happily watch the Indians pile on the agony on the Australians in this series, let us revisit some of the mental integration the Indians were subjected to in the past in Australia which would compose the present reversal of fortune more ecstatic.Though in the initial stages, the margin of defeats for India against Australia in Australia were huge, no attempt was made to wear down the opposition player’s psyche. It all started in the series in 1999 when Steve Waugh was the captain.

India vs Australia, 2018-19: The mental disintegration shoe is now on the other foot

Scars of the past