There are two ways to look at the first session in Perth on day two. The Indian bowlers took the last four Australian wickets with only 49 runs added to the overnight total of 277/6. On the face of it, that is an efficient display.
The other way to look at it would be that it took 15 overs in that session to dismiss Pat Cummins, and not before he added 59 runs for the seventh wicket alongside his captain Tim Paine.
Yes, that dreaded seventh-wicket partnership that Indian fans are getting rather used to these days.
It happened in South Africa, it happened in England and it’s happening again in Australia.
Here’s a quick look at the runs conceded by Indian bowlers to opponents’ lower order this year in Tests (first innings in Perth included).
It must be noted here that 2018 has been a memorable year for India’s bowling unit, especially overseas. The pace attack has repeatedly stepped up and delivered, irrespective of the result. In fact, the three-match series in South Africa was a rare instance of India taking 60 wickets out of the possible 60 in an overseas assignment. Even in the 1-4 defeat in England, the bowlers came in for plenty of praise as they have in the ongoing Australia series.
This issue, however, has been a nagging footnote in all their successes.
First things first. In most instances, there has been a special performance from the opposition. Sam Curran and Jos Buttler played brilliant knocks during the England series as did Chris Woakes at Lord’s. Pat Cummins, for instance, has made a case to be considered a genuine all-rounder in this Australian side.
But when it happens as often as it does against India, questions do arise.
The dismissals of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in Perth at the end of the first innings off successive deliveries made you beg the question as to why Ishant Sharma and Co don’t bowl it full and straight more often to the tail-enders. In England, the bowlers were often guilty of shortening their lengths the moment lower-order batsmen came into bat, while allowing the well-set batsmen to rotate strike easily. Virat Kohli’s captaincy also left a lot to be desired in that sense.
On Saturday in Perth, for the first hour, it was more of the same. Sunil Gavaskar, among many, was utterly baffled by the fact that Jasprit Bumrah did not begin proceedings after his fiery spell with the second new ball the previous night. Mohammed Shami and Ishant were found guilty of not building enough pressure on Cummins and Paine.
While the bowlers, ultimately, continue to do their job of dismissing the opponents, allowing the tail to wag invariably puts pressure on an already struggling top order.
As the chart above shows, only Australia have fared worse against the opponents’ lower-order batsmen in 2018. While there is no one reason for this phenomenon, it’s a definite area of concern. It has been for a while.