India vs Australia, 2018-19: The mental disintegration shoe is now on the other foot

The 2011-2012 series

In the 2011-2012 series, Australia added an astounding 836 runs for the loss of just 2 wickets

This was a four-match series. India gave some fight in the first Test at Melbourne which Australia won by 122 runs. It was in the second Test at Sydney where the Australian bowlers and batsmen started to dominate. First, India were bundled out for 191 in the first innings.

In reply, Australia at one stage were 37 for 3 before the new Australian captain Michael Clarke joined former captain Ricky Ponting at the wicket. The pair added 288 runs for the fourth wicket before Ponting finally got out for 134.

Michael Clarke made 329 not out at Sydney

When the Indian bowlers thought their ordeal was over, Mike Hussey joined Clarke and they added another 334 runs for the fifth wicket. In the end, both Clarke and Hussey remained not out on 329 and 150 not out as Australia piled up 659 for 4 declared against India’s paltry first innings score of 191. The mental disintegration of the Indian bowlers was complete.

The humiliation of the Indian bowlers could be explained with a few statistics. After losing their 3rd wicket for 37, Australia added 622 runs for the loss of only one wicket, that of Ricky Ponting. The Indian bowlers Ashwin(44 overs), Ishant Sharma(33), Zaheer Khan(31), Umesh Yadav(24) & Sehwag(23) were made to toil for 2 days before the declaration finally came.

In the next Test match at Perth, the Australian openers Ed Cowan and David Warner put on 214 runs before Cowan got out. If one put together the performance of the Australian batsmen in the second Test at Sydney and the third Test at Perth, from the fall of third wicket at Sydney for 37 runs till the fall of the first wicket at Perth, Australia had added an astounding 836 runs for the loss of just two wickets, that of Ponting at Sydney and Cowan at Perth. The hapless Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners.

The mental disintegration of the Indian bowlers was complete in the next Test at Adelaide where Australia batted first and scored 604 for 7 declared. Ricky Ponting and Michale Clarke scored double hundreds and were involved in a partnership of 386 for the fourth wicket. For India, R.Ashwin toiled for 53 overs for three wickets.

In reply, India were all out for 272 in the first innings and conceded a massive 332 runs first innings lead. The Australian captain Michael Clarke chose not to enforce the follow-on to further disintegrate the Indian bowlers.

Australia made 167 for 5 declared in the second innings and set an improbable target of 500 runs for India to win. India promptly got out for 201 to give Australia a massive win by 298 runs. When that series ended, for the Indian bowlers it was like a nightmare coming to an end.