SYDNEY: Dark clouds are gathering over Indian cricket. sydney test. This has been a long and strange journey, marked by a series of bizarre mistakes. An auspicious winning start in Perth was followed by a miserable defeat in Adelaide, a lucky non-hit draw in Brisbane and a shocking collapse in Melbourne on the final day after India showed their will to extend the match.
What followed is standard practice whenever a team faces a difficult situation and leadership is thrown into turmoil. There are ugly locker room leaks, rumors of unrest and division, stories of high-handedness from coaches and whispers from opportunists looking for a chance.
This has been the case before and will continue to be the case in Indian cricket. But this time, the team is in a tricky situation with some of its senior batsmen collectively failing in an important tour. Big changes are coming and there could be chaos ahead.
Perhaps there were signs of trouble right from the start of the tour when Ravichandran Ashwin was furious at being ignored by Washington Sundar in Perth. That development became evident much later in the third game at the Gabba. Ashwin retired in a huff despite playing XI and returned home the same day. His father later said that Ashwin was “humiliated”, a strong implication. Ashwin tried to ignore the issue without much success by saying that his father was “not media trained”.
There were other signs of confused thinking as well. Captain Rohit Sharma’s delayed entry into the series saw him relinquish his regular opening role for Adelaide. This is another unique decision after KL Rahul was touted as a temporary option for Perth. The reason cited was Rahul-Jaiswal’s significant contribution to the top order, but by that logic the captaincy should have been retained as Jasprit Bumrah led the team to victory in the first Test. Perhaps Rohit did not have enough confidence in his declining Test form for some time.
Australia is a difficult place for batsmen from the subcontinent. Rohit made a poor comeback in the middle order and his subsequent attempts to regain the opening slot seemed to have thrown the team off balance. Shubman Gill, who had a poor performance overseas but got off to a good start in Adelaide, had to make way as Rahul took the third spot at the MCG.
A skipper who looks puzzled when asked about his batting in a media conference is never a good sign. Rohit’s captaincy was also understandably patchy until Australia’s second innings in the Boxing Day Test. It was then that he seemed to wake up from his despondency after Nitish Kumar Reddy’s surprising tone.
Another puzzling move was that the pack of all-rounders with minimal bowling contribution increased the burden on Jasprit Bumrah. Some of the bad shots of some senior batsmen have also become mysterious. Now every cricket watcher in Australia knows how Virat Kohli unnecessarily fishes outside the stumps.
Rishabh Pant’s ‘avoid one more offence’ approach against Travis Head defied belief as he waited for the Test match to be saved. So did Yashasvi Jaiswal’s run-out, three dropped catches and the sustained run-in with Sam Konstas at the MCG. This probably means that Jaiswal is still a bit raw, but he is not yet the tough big-match player that India expects him to be.
Perhaps there were signs of trouble even before this trip to Australia when India were whitewashed by New Zealand. Maybe it could have been earlier, when Gautam Gambhir took Rahul Dravid’s big shoes as a coach without any prior formal coaching experience.
Gambhir’s time at IPL-winning highs this season as a mentor for Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders was deemed good enough for him to take on a completely different role as India coach. Gambhir is an inspirational character with strong convictions who is emotionally attached to Indian cricket. But judging by his net sessions here in Australia, he is not directly involved in the practice as a coach.
He appears to have delegated routine tasks like providing technical inputs, giving failures and planning training sessions to people like Abhishek Nayar. Barring former bowling great Morne Morkel, the rest of the support staff lacks the experience and character to guide some of the Test match giants of the team.
His previous on-field run-ins with Kohli in past IPL seasons became an immediate talking point when Gambhir was appointed. The Rohit-Gambir combination has also been unsuccessful so far apart from two wins against Bangladesh at home. Now there are reports that the coach has taken six months to “observe” progress and will now become more proactive.
It begs belief, but if true, it creates another devastating twist to the story.
This disjointed set-up now arrives in Sydney more hopeful than certain of a series-levelling win. Australia functioned as a unit, supported by the leadership and all-round cricketing skills of Pat Cummins. Some of their biggest hitters have rediscovered form. Meanwhile, India’s captain is nearing retirement.
The final Test of the series could be a bumpy ride for India unless the team puts aside all expected differences immediately. There is talk of rain in the air and the Sydney Cricket Ground may not be the dry, spin-friendly batting track it used to be.
“It’s great to have the grass,” said Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Although it may be a red herring, the situation may pour cold water on India’s ambitions. Bumrah, the only bright spot who led the team with his bowling arm, may again banish the gloom.
