Australia vs India 2018-19: 3 factors that contributed to India’s defeat at Perth

Cricket is a leveler. Just a few days back, everyone was praising how well India played at Adelaide to secure a 31-run victory and go 1-0 up in a series down-under, which has not happened earlier. There were a lot of positives to take from a convincing performance that got the better of the hosts.

Everyone expected Australia to bounce back and they most certainly did so. On a drop-in pitch at the Optus Stadium, Perth the hosts went in with an unchanged side from the one that lost in the first game. They put on a complete team performance with everyone chipping in at regular intervals.

India were dealt with two injury blows ahead of the second test- Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin were out and Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav came into their place.

On a pitch which had an unknown element to it, what with this being the first ever test match to be played in the new stadium at Perth. (The iconic WACA ground is no longer in use).

Keeping this in mind, India could have certainly come in better prepared and certainly some performances and selections can be questioned which led to their 146-run defeat.

But what can’t be questioned was the individual brilliance of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami who were stand out performers for India on a very tricky, devious pitch.

But since cricket, especially test cricket is not only about individual performances and relies more on the team coming together, India fell well short against a rampant Australian side.

Here’s digging in deep and finding out the factors that contributed to India’s defeat at Perth which leaves the series at 1-1 with the next test match starting on 26th December 2018 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG).

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#3 The performances of both the openers has been abysmal

KL Rahul and Murali Vijay

have

been abysmal

It is imperative that the openers in a Test match play a crucial and important role. Not only do they play out the new ball and soften the ball, but they also set up the innings for the middle-order batsmen to build on.

For India, this series has seen both their openers struggling and looking terribly out of sorts.

Prior to the test series down-under, India tried youngster Prithvi Shaw as their opener against the Windies at home and it seemed that he could grab the openers spot on this tour.

But an ankle injury in the lead up to the first test match ended Prithvi Shaw’s series as he had to be sent home to recover from his injury.

So, despite two atrocious performances where both KL Rahul and Murali Vijay looked completely out of confidence and were almost walking wickets in the way they batted, they continued to play at Perth.

Partly because there were no replacement openers and partly because of Virat Kohli’s obstinacy to try out something different was the reason for this.

Sunil Gavaskar in the post-match show on Sony Six went on to say that the injury management could have been much better.

If they knew Prithvi Shaw won't be fit for the full series, why didn't they fly in his replacement earlier? Also, he felt KL Rahul should be sent to India and asked to play in the Ranji trophy to revive his test career.

And not too surprisingly, KL Rahul fell rather cheaply in both innings at Perth and Murali Vijay looked reasonably set before Nathan Lyon dislodged his stumps. The question to be asked is couldn’t the team management tinker with the batting order? Did their rigid approach cost them a test match?

The attacking Rishabh Pant could have been pushed up the order, Cheteshwar Pujara could have opened rather than bat at No. 3.

The point is when both your openers are struggling for form and lack self-confidence and belief, the right thing to do is to leave them out of the side and play around with the other options available in the squad.

The nature of dismissals and the very fact that Virat Kohli came in before the 10th over in both the innings speaks for itself- India desperately requires an opening partnership to stay in for some period.

#2 The lack of support for Virat Kohli hampered India’s chances

Virat Kohli needed the support of his other batsmen, which was not to be the case

On what proved to be a very tricky, unpredictable pitch at the Optus Stadium, Perth Virat Kohli showed yet again why he is in a league of his own.

In what would go down as among the best knocks played by an Indian overseas, he showed that if you have the right intent and are willing to forego your usual style of play- any peak is surmountable.

The pitch coupled with the quality of the Australian bowling attack meant that the best had to come from Virat Kohli for India to challenge Australia.

The intent, control and confidence with which he went about building his innings en route to a fabulous 123 was amazing to watch.

But what let India down was the over-dependence on Virat Kohli to do the scoring. It is virtually impossible for one player to dominate in such hostile, gruelling conditions. Virat Kohli needed the support of his other batsmen, which was not to be the case.

Cheteshwar Pujara was fantastic at the Adelaide Oval but unfortunately got two snotters at Perth. Ajinkya Rahane looked to be a bit off in his new attacking avatar whereas India could have used his solid technique and partnership building capabilities. The openers KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Rishabh Pant flattered to deceive.

This has been a trend that has continued for some time now. Virat Kohli was a one-man run machine in England and South Africa in 2018, but the series results spoke for themselves. It requires a team effort to win games of test cricket overseas.

Cheteshwar Pujara has proved his mettle in this tour and can go on to play a crucial role later in the series.

But the question is who else can support Virat Kohli? This is the main reason why India find themselves in a position where despite playing so well at Adelaide Oval they may not have it in them to upsurge Australia and win their first series down-under.

#3 Selection blunders that defied logic which proved to be costly

The selection of the team went horribly wrong

There is undoubtedly no doubt in everybody’s mind regarding the quality, class and skill of Virat Kohli the batsman. His hundred at the Optus Stadium, Perth was a testament to his unique brilliance. But can the same praises be showered upon his captaincy? Well, the answer to that is a NO.

Virat Kohli has paid the price for some dubious selection blunders in South Africa and England and one would have hoped that he would improve with time.

But going by some of the selection misfires he made for the Perth test, Virat Kohli’s captaincy especially overseas would come under question.

With Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma out due to injury, India went in with four specialist bowlers for the second test match.

A selection that lacked common sense as the conditions in Perth are tiring and hot, and more importantly, the pitched offered a lot of turn for the spinners (Australia’s Nathan Lyon was the MOM for his eight-wicket haul).

Irrespective of the pitch conditions, it always helps to have a spinner in your team. As they hold one end up, offer a different challenge to the batsmen and with this being the first test match at the new Perth Stadium, makes more sense to play a specialist spinner.

Virat Kohli and the team management’s decision to opt for Umesh Yadav instead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar also was baffling. Bhuvi offers a different dimension with the swing he generates and, he can contribute with the bat.

Umesh Yadav was far from being par, hardly troubled the batsmen and leaked runs at almost four runs an over when scoring runs was a challenge. A selection that backfired big time on the Indian team management.

With the likes of Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin set to play at the MCG, we may get to see some more sense and logic in the selection unlike what happened at the Perth.