For 71
years India could not win a single Test series in Australia and now within
space of two years they have won two. The latest triumph must go down as one of
the finest Test series wins in history of Indian Cricket for the team has shown
immense character and overcame all the adversities to beat a side which was
better and playing in its own den
 |
| Ajinkya Rahane has led by example |
Indians
have not a great liking of Gabba before 19th January and the ground
might be still down the radar among the favorite ones but there is one thing for
sure that they will always relate it with one of their finest Test wins.
Playing against all the adversities against a side which was in fact deemed to
be better and was expected to blow them away especially on the ground which has
been their fortress. But India did win they not only came from 1-0 down after 1st
Test, they won at Melbourne, drew bravely at Sydney, and ultimately breached
the fortress Gabba registering one of the greatest test series victory of all
time.
India has
had some memorable Test victories and the Gabba triumph has to go down as one
of the top ones. In terms of series, it is one of the finest victories,
something which could draw parallel with series wins in West Indies in 1971,
against Australia in 2001 at home. In both those series India has to overcome
all the adversities against teams which were considered far superior, but it was
due to the willpower of the team that helped them emerge victories among those
hard-fought series.
 |
| Risabh Pant showed lot of maturity |
India’s
won at Gabba creates a self-belief that there is nothing impossible if you are
willing to fight and some where down the line it echoes how life is. You cannot
always get good things on platter and
the Test of character comes when the tide is against you. India who were
expected to be mauled at the Gabba turned the tables on the host, every time
they seemed to be under the pump there was someone who could lift them up.
Cheteshwar Pujara put his body on the line, Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur
put their hearts in the performance and Rishabh Pant came out of the age, on
this tour. Behind all these there was master tactician in Ajinkya Rahane who
unlike Virat Kohli preferred to stay back and let his strategy talk. He will be
one of those rare captains who has returned unscathed from Australian shores.
With 2 wins in 3 games and a remarkable series victory Rahane has ensured his
name is written in golden letters in India’s cricket history.
 |
| Shubhman Gill's first class cricket average is 68 |
The man
himself was calm and unperturbed by what he achieved in fact after the match he
gave a shirt signed by all the Indian team members as souvenir to Nathan Lyon
on his 100th Test. A remarkable gesture by the leader who always
preferred to play the game with its spirit just like Kane Williamson.
So how it
wnt all wrong for the hosts? They were expected to win this series 4-0 but at
the end it put a hole in their proud home record also marking and end to their
dominance at Gabba. This has been Australia’s third series loss in last 4 years
and this is the second consecutive home loss against India who till 2018-19 had
not won a single series in Australia for 71 years but now had two big ones in
their coffers in two years. So, what was the reason behind this fall. Barring
few failures Australia performed amicably and is still a very good team there
is no doubt about it, but the question arises about the bench strength. Does
Australia have players on the bench who could take place in case few players
are injured, or they have sufficient talent to bank on if they find themselves
in same situation as India has found them on this Tour?
 |
| Marcus Harris - Might get chance in future as well |
 |
| Ben McDermott is in contention for South Africa tour |
The
answers lie in Australia persisting with Matthew Wade, one timekeeper now a
specialist batsman. Wade is a fighter but his record and performance at Test
left has left him wanting. In his 9-year career, Wade has scored 1613 runs at
29.87 in 36 Tests, clearly not a return you would want from your no.5 but the
problem is Australia does not have number of youngsters coming through from a
shield system which was once considered the best structure in the world.
Pick up
the list of highest run scorers from 2020-21 season and you will hard believe
that majority of the youngsters have overall average of 34-35in their
First-Class Careers something which had been termed as poor in Australia in
past but has now become benchmark. A look at some of the batsmen who topped
chart in 2020-21 and 2019-20 Shielfield Contest:
|
No |
Name
|
Matches |
Average |
Age |
Rank in Top Run getters |
Season |
|
1 |
Ben
McDermott |
38 |
34.08 |
26 |
6 |
2020-21 |
|
2 |
Josh
Inglish |
38 |
32.96 |
25 |
7 |
2020-21 |
|
3 |
Sam
Whiteman |
63 |
35.87 |
28 |
9 |
2020-21 |
|
4 |
Henry
Hunt |
13 |
32.40 |
24 |
10 |
2020-21 |
|
5 |
Matt
Renshaw |
64 |
36.25 |
24 |
13 |
2020-21 |
|
6 |
Nick
Maddinson |
89 |
39.93 |
29 |
1 |
2019-20 |
|
7 |
Daniel
Hughes |
50 |
38.23 |
31 |
5 |
2019-20 |
|
8 |
Jake
Weatherald |
46 |
34.16 |
26 |
6 |
2019-20 |
|
9 |
Daniel
Solway |
10 |
48.21 |
25 |
10 |
2019-20 |
These are
some of the raw talents who have topped charts in last two seasons of Shield cricket,
and we can find only one player having first class average of above 40 and he
too has played only one season. Players like Marcus Harris, Travis Head and
Shaun Marsh who scored runs have been tried and tested at Test level and with
dearth of batting talents they might get another chance despite having average
Test record.
On the
bowling front let us look at some of the performers:
|
No |
Name |
Matches |
Wickets |
Averages |
Rank in Top wicket takers |
Season |
|
1 |
Mitchell Swepson |
46 |
140 |
33.95 |
1 |
2020-21 |
|
2 |
Jackson Bird |
94 |
394 |
24.53 |
2 |
2020-21 |
|
3 |
Sean Abott |
58 |
160 |
32.53 |
3 |
2020-21 |
|
4 |
Nathan Ellis |
5 |
30 |
23.03 |
4 |
2020-21 |
|
5 |
Scott Boland |
70 |
236 |
26.86 |
6 |
2020-21 |
|
6 |
Trent Copeland |
100 |
384 |
25.28 |
7 |
2020-21 |
|
7 |
Michael Neser |
59 |
195 |
25.47 |
8 |
2020-21 |
|
8 |
Cameron Gannon |
34 |
112 |
27.10 |
1 |
2019-20 |
|
9 |
Chadd Sayers |
82 |
315 |
26.10 |
5 |
2019-20 |
|
10 |
Mark Steketee |
42 |
144 |
26.77 |
7 |
2019-20 |
The fast-bowling
options are in much healthier option and is no surprise how Post 2015 World cup
Australian bowlers have outclassed their batting counterparts but Australia’s
inability to protect scores in excess of 300 on numerous occasions in recent
years have put up questions on their bowling as well.
 |
| Sheffield Shield is no more example for rest of the world |
So how
does this slide could be stopped? it is no wonder that post 2015 World Cup win Australia has not
been able to produce exceptional batting talent in domestic circuit except
Cameron Green and Will Puckovski. In these 6 years Australia have given Test
caps to players who possibly would not have been able to get near to the
elusive baggy green before that era. The reason is lack of investment in grass
root of Australian cricket, in schools and universities and BBL being giving
preference over shield. We will discuss this in detail in next segment of this
article.
Comments
Post a Comment