India's debacle Down-Under: What went wrong?- An analysis

A dismal batting performance let India down in the 3rd test as they were defeated by an innings & 37 runs by the Aussies. The way in which the top order batsmen approached the innings was not up to their experience, the only exception being Sachin. Virender Sehwag was not in his natural form. He tries to change and adapt to test format. His approach towards the Aussie pace attack is different from what he typically exploits and one of the reasons for this change may be coach Duncan Fletcher.

When India toured West Indies under Raina, their mindset and approach towards the innings was different from what they usually do. In the 3rd ODI, where they had to chase around 210, they were home by 7 wickets with 17 balls to spare. When asked, Raina said, “It was a part of Duncan Fletcher’s technique”. This is evident to support Viru’s approach Down-Under.

Sachin in 2003-04 celebrates his double century

The 2003-04 tour to Australia under Saurav Ganguly was fair and good. They had a good start in the innings and they usually converted the start into big ones. An individual took the responsibility when required by the team. Referring to the match in Adelaide during that tour, Australia scored 596 in their 1st innings. The Indians were put into a situation where they could have been forced to follow-on, but at 87/4 Dravid and Laxman came to the rescue. With their stand of 200+ and Dravid’s double century, India scored 559. In the 2nd innings, the Indian bowlers bundled the Aussies out for 196 and they chased the target down with 4 wickets in hand.

That kind of intent shown by the players has not been seen in this series. Last tour in 2007-08 under Anil Kumble was not a good one as decisions of the umpires in the Sydney test came under controversy. “Where you have an opportunity to win a test match and square the series, 50% of decisions were received in our favour, a chance would have been there” said Kumble after that match. They came into Perth with a lot of confidence as the batters shone with runs in spite of meager-umpiring. That gave a boost to the team and India comfortably won the test match.

Now coming into the present Down-Under series, the conditions in MCG and SCG helped swing bowlers. The option available after Irfan for a swing bowler is Praveen Kumar. As Kumar was injured, after the 3 tests you would have felt that Irfan should have played. Irfan Pathan in the series against West Indies got an opportunity in the last ODI and got a couple of wickets, one in the first delivery of the innings, where he swung the ball and got rid of the player. He has a good record against Australia, especially against Ricky Ponting. Let us hope for the best in Adelaide and a win for India will give some sort of relief and confidence going into the tri-series.