On Day 1 of the first Test between India and Australia, the Australian spinners ran circles around Indian batsmen. No single player was able to take a stand against them and former Aussie captain Ian Chappell was quick to identify this by highlighting Shreyas Iyer‘s poor showing in recent matches. Although touted as a reliable batsman, he has failed to make an impression thus far according to Chappell. The cricket analyst went on to further state that Cheteshwar Pujara has also been paying into this trend of failure due to his anxiousness at the crease. Unfortunately for Team India, Iyers’ uneasiness appears to be getting the better of him – something which needs to be addressed before things get worse for the blue brigade in their home series.
While Chappell praised Australia’s spin bowlers for their accuracy and the Australians for adapting to Indore’s difficult conditions, he also expressed doubts about a few Indians’ spin bowling capabilities. He pointed to Rohit Sharma‘s fantastic century during Australia’s innings as an example of positive adaptation. Ultimately, however, he decided that the Australian batsmen deserved the lead: “To me, it was Australia who outplayed India and definitely deserved to have the lead.” His sentiments were echoed by Usman Khawaja‘s resilience in a 60-run inning, which helped his team edge ahead in the game. It is clear that despite some impressive Indian batting, it was Australia who rose to the challenge and seized the initiative through excellent spinning on a demanding Indian pitch.
The ongoing third Test between India and Australia has been an interesting one so far as Team India have managed to keep Australia’s lead under 100 runs when Australia were bowled out for 197 in their first innings. Now, the onus is on Team India to surpass this score as soon as they can and give Australia a good run-chase in the fourth innings. However, batting in the second innings won’t be a cakewalk for the Australians due to how much help the Indian spinners are getting from the Indore pitch. Furthermore, the importance of this match has increased even more due to Team India’s pursuit of a spot in the World Test Championship Final. Victory here would secure their ticket and make that dream come true.
