With Bumrah on Their Side

SPORT IS ALL about comebacks and always offers you a second chance. India was down and out ahead of the Perth Test. Losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home, not many had given the team a chance. Some had even predicted a dire 0-4 result for the series. That’s when it all boils down to self belief. Do the players and the team management really believe they belong at the very highest level? Do they believe they can take on the might of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, and Scott Boland in tough Australian conditions?

Take the case of Yashasvi Jaiswal. He flashed hard on the first morning of the Test match and was dismissed for a duck. It clearly was a test for him. After all the build-up as the ‘New King’, here he was with a rare failure at the top of the order. Starc and Cummins aren’t easy to deal with and Jaiswal needed to stand up to the challenge in the second innings. He did. It was his hundred and the partnership with KL Rahul that set the foundation for Virat Kohli to stamp his authority. And once the Indians had taken a lead of 500-plus, it was all a matter of time.

If it was Jaiswal with the bat, it was skipper Jasprit Bumrah with the ball. He, as Michael Clarke said, was “unplayable. He came to Australia and taught us how to bowl in our conditions,” quipped Clarke. With India bowled out for 150 in the first innings, a lot depended on Bumrah to make things happen. With no Mohammed Shami in the ranks and Mohammed Siraj not in the best of forms, Bumrah needed to carry the fight to the Australians. That’s what he did. A first spell for the ages, Bumrah had accounted for the debutant Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja and the big fish Steve Smith. That’s when the match was evened out. Australia, after a really good bowling effort, was flat on the mat because of Bumrah’s brilliance. With Harshit Rana chipping in with the wicket of Travis Head, it had all changed at Perth.

For Australia, it was a shock. How could a team that was down and out and being smirked at for training behind closed doors turn the tide at Perth, the hallowed fortress of Australian cricket? How could a rookie like Nitish Reddy stand up to the likes of Cummins and Starc? Australia, sadly, did not have a Plan B. Once Bumrah had them on the mat, they crumbled. And once Jaiswal and Rahul started to leave balls in the second innings, they looked flat. Coach Andrew McDonald summed up the Australian mood at the press conference at the end of the third day when he said they did not have a target in mind and just needed to take 10 wickets. It was a defensive press conference from a coach who sounded defeated.

The question now is can Australia make a comeback at Adelaide in the pink-ball Test? Is there an opportunity for Cummins and Starc to make a statement and level the series? And if they fail, what impact will it have on their careers?

With Josh Hazlewood ruled out, the pressure is squarely on Australia. They are the ones expected to set the narrative and win the series. They have chosen the venues and set the itinerary to make it as difficult as possible for India. They are the ones who play pink-ball Tests annually. So if they don’t win at Adelaide, when will they? And if they don’t and go 0-2 down in the series, is a comeback possible thereafter?

To answer these questions one has to focus on the Australian mindset against Bumrah. It seems they have an issue against the Indian vice captain. Every time Bumrah has the ball in hand, the Australians appear scared. The scarring he has inflicted on them in the first Test will be fresh and it will take a herculean effort from the management to convince the batters that all is well. Bumrah on the other hand will have his tail up. With Rohit Sharma back to lead the side, all he needs to do is bowl another fiery spell. A few wickets to Bumrah early on in Adelaide could well go on to define the series for India.

For the record, Bumrah wasn’t there for the Gabba miracle in 2021. He was out injured and missed the madness. For him, too, it is a platform to make a statement. Prove it once and for all that he is currently the best in the world across formats. That the injury is now in the past and it was his absence that could have cost India the WTC final in England in June 2023. With a calm demeanour and a good head, Bumrah will surely want to grab the opportunity. Win the battle in the mind and give Rohit Sharma and India a head start.

For the Indian captain, Adelaide is a huge opportunity. For a while now Rohit has not been his usual self in red-ball cricket. He has tried to attack from ball-go and paid the price. He needs to reinvent himself one more time and go back to what he had done in England in 2021. He needs to leave balls and settle in. Play and miss and yet not give up. Be prepared to look ugly if need be but continue to grind on. India will want to see Rohit Sharma go back in time to 2021 and play conventional red-ball cricket. Runs from him will mean a lot to the team and will help settle him as well. With a win at Perth, Rohit has the cushion he perhaps needed and it is all set for him to deliver in Adelaide.

Finally, Virat Kohli. For a period he was searching for runs. Against New Zealand the pathetic wickets did not help. He did not score and the pressure was on him in the absence of Rohit and Shubman Gill. Failure in the first innings added to it and Virat desperately needed to score big in the second innings. A century was the perfect riposte. Not willing to give up while not at his best, it was a hundred he will remember with fondness. That’s what you want to see in a champion player. See him fight and not give up. Be prepared to bite the bullet and control his ego. Allow the game to ask you questions and as a humble devotee figure out the answers with hard work and discipline. Virat’s innings was a statement of his evolution and clearly added a lot to the Indian effort.

Now the focus is all on Adelaide and the pink-ball Test. Can we see an Australian comeback or will it be India all over again? With the weather forecast good, there is every reason to believe there will be a result and, may I say, it will be a decisive one from the standpoint of this important series. I can’t wait for the umpires to call play at the Adelaide Oval.

Adelaide OvalIndia-AustraliaIndian cricketIndian cricket teamJasprit Bumrahpink-ball Tests