DRS-Gate. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what it is. Are the Australians cheaters? Is Virat Kohli arrogant? Are India boorish? Are Australia too soft? Yes, instead of focusing on what has been an enthralling series so far, all talk has been about the DRS controversy of the second Test in Bengaluru.
But if you’ve forgotten, the series is still 1-1. It really is anybody’s game. And it’s important both teams recognise that and start giving the DRS controversy a rest.
Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble and the rest of the Indian team may be feeling a touch buoyant. As he mentioned in the post-match presser, India’s comeback at Bengaluru was significant, not just because of the way India fought back in the series, but it also proved to the team itself what they were capable of.
But they also need to careful. Momentum counts for little in a Test series with such small margins. Australia came in with a surge of momentum from Pune, they even rode on that momentum and bowled India out cheaply in the first innings in Pune. India did inch back but the momentum stayed with Australia until one fatal session on the fourth day destroyed them in Bengaluru.
The numbers say Australia enjoy a slight superiority
Going by the bare numbers, Australia have enjoyed a slight superiority till now. They have scored a total of 933 runs across four innings, India, in comparison, have scored only 600. Australia have taken an Indian wicket at an average of one every 15 runs, while for India, that number is approximately 23.
But when it comes to individual records, things are far tighter. Steve O’Keefe and Ravichandran Ashwin are on top of the wicket-takers list with 15 wickets followed by Nathan Lyon with 13 wickets and Ravindra Jadeja with 12 wickets. As for the top run-getters list, KL Rahul is 43 runs ahead of Steve Smith in second place.
What it boils down to is that this has been a series which has been incredibly tight with Australia marginally ahead. The 1-1 scoreline is justified, but India will need to ensure they come out all guns blazing and not let their intensity slip, even for a second, in such a close contest.
For starters, India’s batting remains a big worry. The tendency to collapse at a moment’s notice is worrisome. It was 7/11 in the first innings at Pune and 6/18 in the second. Then , it became 6/33 in the first innings in Bengaluru and 6/36 in the second. When these collapses happen, the batsmen coming in seem to have no idea what’s happening. They flay desperately and contribute to the hubris.
India need to sort their issues out
Two related problems are Virat Kohli’s own batting form and India’s opening partnership. Kohli hasn’t exactly fired in the two Tests as yet and India’s dismal opening stands could be a reason for that. As Nathan Lyon did point out, Kohli is the head of the snake and there is a lot of pressure when the captain falls cheaply. Kohli himself will be much happier if he can come out after a good opening partnership rather than come out to firefight like how he’s been doing so far. Without doubt, India are putting pressure on their best batsman and that’s something they actively need to avoid.
And then there’s the catching. India didn’t have as dismal a time in Bengaluru as they did in Pune but there were two key drops which could have changed the course of the match. The culprit for the first drop was Ajinkya Rahane who dropped David Warner at gully early in the Australian first innings. India got off easily there but dropping Warner could have easily proved very costly.
Later in the fourth innings, Virat Kohli made a mess of a Steve Smith edge at slip. Thankfully, Umesh Yadav managed to dismiss Smith later but that drop could have easily changed the result of the match.
Then there is also the question about how India play Australia’s pacers. Mitchell Starc’s absence due to a stress fracture will definitely help India. The Aussie left-arm pacer has used his pace and swing to be quite a handful.
But there’s another side to it as well. Starc’s pace and his hunger to get wickets has meant that he concedes runs as well which has helped India. In fact, Starc’s economy rate of 3.59 is the worst among bowlers of both teams who have played both the Tests.
In comparison, Josh Hazlewood has been both frugal and incisive and will be a difficult proposition. Starc’s replacement Pat Cummins, on the other hand, is a bit of an unknown quantity for the Indians. Cummins has only played one Twenty20 International and one One-Day International against India. The hype about him is that he can be fast and lethal and Virat Kohli’s team can’t afford to underestimate him as well.
The moral of the story is that it’s a tight series. Australia are not going to give an inch. India needs to keep the entire DRS fiasco aside for a moment and relentlessly focus on Ranchi. This is a series which could be well decided on the smallest of margins.