Another match of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy is over within 2 and a half days, but just this time the winner is different. Australia, after seeming clueless in the first two matches, finally put on a show at Indore, which was arguably the toughest pitch among the three venues. Why and how? Let’s decode.
India crumble
India wins the toss and opts to bat first. Fair call given the pitch at Indore was a mixture of red and black soil, meaning sharp spin and uneven bounce. The hosts knew exactly what was on offer on this pitch. 11 overs later, they were caught in their own web.
From 27-0, India was suddenly 45-5 in 11.2 overs. It was spinning, and there were puffs of dust erupting with almost every ball. The pitch was poor. But India’s batting was mediocre. Most of the batters got out playing ruthless shots, some were neither coming forward nor going back. Before things could settle down, India was rattled for a meager 109 runs with Matthew Kuhnemann picking a fifer.
Australian batting application
One thought as India failed with the bat, Australia would too. But Usman Khawaja stood like a wall and got some support from Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith too. They were 107-1 before India made a strong comeback. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav ran through the Aussie batting line-up. However, they were still able to get a strong lead of 88 runs.
India’s below-par batting show continued in the 2nd innings as well. Cheteshwar Pujara was the only batter to show resistance. He scored a gritty 59-run knock. But he didn’t receive enough support from the other end. The hosts were again bowled out on a low score of 163 runs. Australia comfortably chased down the 78-run target with 9 wickets in hand.
The Rohit Sharma-led side posted easy wins in the first two matches by playing the spin ploy: rank-turner pitches with Ashwin and Jadeja breathing fire. However, what ensured India’s dominance was the batting effort– at least a couple of batters stepping up in each inning. That didn’t happen in the Indore Test, costing India their first loss in the four-match series.
