When India decided to bat first after winning the toss at Perth yesterday, Mathew Haydon stated it was a brave decision. Skipper Pat Cummins said it was a good toss to lose.
The uneven bounce , the bounce, and the swing the Australian pacemen extracted from the pitch was a nightmare to any batter in World Cricket.
Subcontinent conditions are so very different. In India, Pakistan, and in Sri Lanka, the bounce is up to knee high even when playing on the front foot, and the skill level is to use your feet, play with soft hands and most importantly smother the spin hence, your wrist work must be sublime.
In Australia, everything is waist high. Swing, bounce, this difference is not easy to cope with. The Japrit Bumrah led Indian team in the absence of Rohit Sharma, was bowled out for 150.
This total gave me the impression that India is carrying the virus which their strong batting lineup was infected with during their home series against New Zealand in their own backyard.
Sunil Gavaskar stated that India has a strong bowling line up led by Jasprit Bumrah. Hence, his team can give the same intravenous dose to the Australian batters.
Honestly, I thought Sunny was trying to keep the millions of Indian fans happy around the globe. We all know how emotional the average Indian gets when their team is on the pump.
The Jasprit Bumrah led bowling attack came up with a plan, and surprisingly, the mighty Australian batters fell like a pack of cards ending day one on 67 for 7 wickets.
This is not riplys, believe it or not scenario, but a reality recorded in the score book period.
Honestly, it’s too embarrassing for Australian cricket the way they struggled against top-quality seam dished out by Bumrah. Debutant Harshit Rana and the Old War horse Mohammed Siraj.
Long story short, Australia bowled out for 104, thanks to the tail that wagged with Mitchell Starc and Jos Hazelwood helping the home team not being bowled out for less than 83 which incidentally is their lowest Test score.
India has stunned the cricketing fratinity big time. Hence, as envisaged, their biased commentators will talk about this performance with their chins held high tll the Cows come home.
Add fuel to the fire or even rub salt to the wound India end day two batting in their second essay on 172 for no loss with Jaiswal unbeaten on 90 and K.L Rahul on 63.
India now has a test winning lead of 218 runs come day 3 and all scalps in hand. Guess you, as our readers, don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you in what direction this match is heading. What the Australian fans will hope for is that even Nostadamus got a few predictions wrong.
Finally, consider this equation 217 for 17 wickets on day 1. On day two, 209 runs for 3 wickets. What a test match.