Caught in their own net ?

India laid a spin trap for all their opponents this home season and attempted to do the same against Australia, but, the Aussies had a plan, defend for their life whilst others played aggressively, They had to take the game to the opposition, might as well go for the runs and get out rather than get trapped like sitting ducks? They rescued themselves from 205-9 and posted 260 in the 1^st innings that last partnership of 55 runs saw Josh Hazelwood the no.11 contribute a solitary run and block an end whilst Mitchell Starc played the aggressor.

India were rattled with the loss of Murali Vijay early on and Australia delivered two powerful blows and ripped through the heart of India’s top order. India went in at lunch at 75-3. Lokesh Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane were at the crease and they are no slouches to playing spin, but were not as good as the 3 batsman who had been dismissed. Post Lunch, India reached 94-3 and then they collapsed spectacularly. Rahul who had scored 64 of the teams 94 runs attempted to clear long on and mistimed the shot. He sliced it straight to long on. The shot was a one-day shot which was totally unnecessary from him as he was set. One can understand a new batsman playing it so as to feel good about himself or create a doubt in the mind of the bowler. India had lost their 4^th wicket before the 100 was on the board.

Steve O’ Keefe, Australia’s second spinner buoyed by his success began tossing the ball up and the pitch rewarded such bowling as it offered sharp turn and bounce. The Indians weren’t expecting such turn as they were playing for a moderate level of spin as is expected on a day 2 pitch, only for the ball to spin that little bit extra and catch the edge. Rahane was beaten for pace and closed the face of the bat to early as he tried to work the ball down leg side, got a leading edge and was caught at 2^nd slip. This wicket would be a fielder’s wicket if there was such a category as the catch was magnificent. Saha went for a duck after trying to leave the ball only for it to hit his bat and balloon to 1^st slip. (Why didn’t he just raise the bat above his head and leave the ball as there was ample bounce which had eliminated a bowled or LBW from the equation)

Next up was the man who had scored a century in his previous outing, Jayant Yadav, and he in going for a forward defence was bamboozled by the spin, missed the ball completely and made the error of dragging his feet out of the crease. Why would a no.9 or any batsmen who is defending in a test match drag his foot out of the crease? This one was the bowler’s genius. He made the batsman come out so as to take the ball on the full and block it before it spun only to change the length at just the right time. The 3 time first class cricket triple centurion Ravindra Jadeja could have batted on for a while, as he can, and he should have attempted to stay there as he is India’s second spinner and would be able to study the pitch very well, but no he lofted the ball straight to long on(he tried to play a Mitchell Starc like innings but failed) Umesh Yadav went for a wild heave and he too got an edge and was out(frankly speaking the moment he left the crease he was going to be out if he didn’t middle the ball as if he missed it he would have been miles out and a stumping was on)

The Indian team collapsed from 94-3 to 105 all out. 11 runs 7 wickets. Why? Their best players of spin who could just stifle the opposition were out, the lower order wasn’t used to batting under pressure as they have had massive hundreds from the top in the entire home season which allowed them to bat freely and contribute handsomely with the bat. They haven’t faced a good spinner all season(New Zealand had Jeetan Ptatel England had Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid who are good spinners but India had a big knock from someone of the top order, Bangladesh weren’t given a turning pitch as India were aware that they too had quality spinners). Could this set the tone for the series? Have India trapped themselves in their own net? Or is this just one bad day in the office? I think bad day as it was just a loss in concentration due to complacency.

The collapse today was a combination of lack of application and wonderful bowling. Could India have seen Steve O’Keefe out? Yes absolutely.

Those 8 overs of mayhem have now left India with a 155 run deficit which at the end of day 2 has reached. Australia do not need to declare and can bat on and on leaving India with 300 or more to chase on a day 4 pitch. If the pitch turned like that on day 2 one wonders what demons may emerge as the game progresses.