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SYDNEY: Dark clouds are gathering over Indian cricket heading into the Sydney Test. This has been a long, strange trip marked by a series of bizarre missteps from the side. The auspicious winning start in Perth has been followed by abject defeat in Adelaide, a lucky rain-hit draw in Brisbane and the shocking collapse on the last day in Melbourne after India showed resolve to stretch the game.
What has followed is standard practice whenever the team hits a rough patch and the leadership is in turmoil — ugly dressing room leaks, rumours of disquiet and division, talk of high-handedness from the coach and whispers of opportunists waiting to seize their moment.
It’s all happened in Indian cricket before and will again, but this team this time is in a prickly situation, on an important tour where some of their senior batters have failed collectively. Big changes loom and there could be chaos ahead.
Perhaps the signs of trouble were there from the start of the tour, when Ravichandran Ashwin supposedly took umbrage at being ignored for Washington Sundar in Perth. That development was evident much later, in the third game at the Gabba, where Ashwin — not even in the playing XI — retired in a huff and returned home the same day. His father later said Ashwin had been “humiliated”, a strong insinuation. Ashwin tried to play down the issue, without much success it must be said, by saying his father wasn’t “media-trained”.
There were other signs of muddled thinking. Captain Rohit Sharma’s delayed entry into the series saw him give up his regular opening role in Adelaide, another peculiar decision since KL Rahul was touted as a stop-gap option for Perth. The reason cited was the important Rahul-Jaiswal contribution at the top, but by that logic the captaincy should also have stayed with Jasprit Bumrah, since he led the side to victory in the first Test. Perhaps Rohit wasn’t confident enough about his Test form, which has tapered off for a while.
Australia is, all said and done, a difficult place for batters from the subcontinent. Rohit’s meagre returns in the middle order and the subsequent attempt to reclaim his opening slot seemed to upset the balance of the side. Shubman Gill, who has a poor overseas record but had got off to good starts in Adelaide, was made to sit out as Rahul took the No. 3 spot at the MCG.
A skipper who prevaricates when asked about his batting spot in media conferences is never a good sign. No wonder Rohit’s captaincy too had been patchy until Australia’s second innings in the Boxing Day Test, when he seemed to rouse himself from despondency after Nitish Kumar Reddy’s wondrous ton.
In another perplexing move, a bevy of batting allrounders with minimal bowling contributions have added to Jasprit Bumrah’s burden. Some of the bad shots played by some senior batters have also been mystifying. By now, every cricket-watcher in Australia knows how Virat Kohli will get out — needlessly fishing outside off stump.
Rishabh Pant’s ‘once-more-unto-the-breach’ approach against Travis Head, with a Test match waiting to be saved, defied belief. So did Yashasvi Jaiswal’s run-out, three dropped catches and constant run-ins with Sam Konstas at the MCG. It is perhaps an indication Jaiswal is still a bit green, and not yet the steely big-match player India expects him to be.
Perhaps the signs of trouble were there from before this Australia trip, when India were whitewashed by New Zealand at home, a red flag if ever there was one. Maybe it was earlier still, when Gautam Gambhir stepped into Rahul Dravid’s big shoes as coach without any prior formal coaching experience.
Gambhir’s time as mentor of Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, where he experienced an IPL-winning high this season, was deemed enough for him to take on a completely different role as India coach. Gambhir is an inspirational character with strong beliefs who is emotionally attached to Indian cricket. However, he isn’t very hands-on as coach, judging from the nets sessions here in Australia.
It seems like he has delegated routine jobs like providing technical inputs, giving throwdowns and planning training sessions to the likes of Abhishek Nayar. The rest of the support staff, apart from the former bowling titan Morne Morkel, lack both the experience and persona to guide some Test-match giants in the team.
The previous on-field run-ins with Kohli in past IPL seasons became an immediate talking point when Gambhir was appointed. The Rohit-Gambhir combine too hasn’t clicked so far, apart from the twin victories against Bangladesh at home. Now there are alleged reports the coach had given himself six months to “observe” proceedings and will now become more proactive.
It beggars belief but if true, makes for another disruptive twist in the tale.
This disjointed set-up now arrives in Sydney more hopeful than confident of pulling off a series-levelling victory. Australia have been galvanized into action as a unit under Pat Cummins’ leadership and versatile cricketing skills. Some of their biggest batters have rediscovered form. India’s captain, meanwhile, is staring at retirement.
This last Test of the series could be a bumpy ride for India unless the team puts all supposed differences aside immediately. There’s talk of rain in the air and the Sydney Cricket Ground may not be the dry, spin-friendly batting track it used to be.
“There’s nice grass coverage,” said Australia’s wicketkeeper Alex Carey, and while that could be a red herring, the conditions might pour cold water on India’s ambitions. It may fall on Bumrah, the sole bright spot who has carried the team on his bowling arm, to again dispel the gloom.
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