India vs Australia 2019, 4th ODI: Did India miss a trick or two in Mohali?

In the fourth ODI at Mohali, Australia needed 130 runs in 14 overs when Glenn Maxwell got out. 8 of those 14 overs were to be bowled by two of the world’s best death bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. It was India’s game to lose from there on despite the fact that centurion Peter Handscomb was still around.

In walked Ashton Turner playing in only his second ODI for Australia. It was total mayhem thereafter as Turner launched into the Indian bowlers, both spinners and pacers alike, and Australia raced to victory with more than 2 overs to spare.

The Indians were shellshocked by Turner’s onslaught of 84 off 43 balls with 5 fours and 6 sixes. It was an astonishing innings from a relatively unknown player. If you take some time to think about it, Turner would not have played this match but for an injury to Marcus Stoinis.

This was not the first time that the Indians were caught unawares by unexpected cameos from the other team. At Eden Gardens in 1987, Pakistani batsman Saleem Malik walked in with only 8 overs remaining and blasted 72 off 36 balls to take Pakistan home by 2 wickets.

At Faridabad in 2002, the Zimbabwe tailender Dougie Marillier came into bat in the 45th over of the innings and ended up scoring 56 off 24 balls. Zimbabwe won that match by 1 wicket. Hence, it is nothing new for India to lose a match shockingly from a commanding position.

At Mohali, there was no excuse for India to lose after posting a mammoth 358 on the board. In spite of the dew factor, the DRS jolt, the absence of Dhoni, a missed stumping and the poor fielding display, India should have still won hands down.

In fact, India missed a trick or two in the whole match which led to this shocking defeat in the end. In hindsight, they could have done something different in the field.

To start with, the Indians had a fixed plan in mind before the game started. It was reflected in their decision making. The team management made up their mind to try K.L.Rahul at No 3 irrespective of the match situation and they stuck to their plan even after the openers put on 193 for the first wicket.

Rahul didn’t play to the situation of the game, consuming 31 balls for his painstaking 26. The regular No. 3 Virat Kohli or the in-form Vijay Shankar could have sustained the momentum.

While on the field, chasing 358 for a win, Australia were 12 for 2 in the fourth over of the innings. Peter Handscomb was relatively new to the crease. He had had his problems against Kuldeep Yadav earlier in the series, but after bowling Kuldeep for just 2 overs, Kohli brought in Kedar Jadhav from Kuldeep’s end and continued with Vijay Shankar from the other end.

Khawaja and Handscomb brought Australia back into the game

Kohli’s strategy of pushing through the overs of the fifth and sixth bowlers early in the innings backfired. That allowed Usman Khawaja and Handscomb to settle down to add 192 runs for the third wicket. Had Kohli bowled Kuldeep and Chahal in tandem immediately after the first powerplay, India could have got a couple more wickets before it was too late.

Besides, both Kuldeep and Chahal could have completed half of their quota of overs before the dew started to settle in. By continuing to bowl with Kedar and Shankar, Kohli allowed the game to drift away from India. It is true that a Captain can’t strategize for factors like dew but at the same time, the influence of such factors can’t be totally ignored.

In the end, the huge third wicket partnership brought Australia within striking distance of the target and that gave free license to players like Maxwell and Turner to play their natural attacking game. Again Kohli could have brought back Vijay Shankar instead of Kedar Jadhav to complete the fifth bowler’s quota when Khawaja and Handscomb were going great guns. As it turned out, Jadhav’s last over went for 19 runs.

By trying Vijay Shankar at that stage, Kohli could have opened up that bowling option to substitute a few overs of the wrist-spinners who were by then struggling to grip the wet ball. But to be fair to Kohli nothing went right for India on the field. There were inside edges missing the stumps narrowly and mishits which didn't go to hand.

The missed stumping opportunity off Turner was the actual turning point of the match. Turner cashed in on that opportunity and produced one of the best cameo innings in terms of the number of balls faced.

After the missed opportunity at Mohali, the series is now level at 2-2 going into the final ODI at New Delhi. In a way, the loss at Mohali is a blessing-in-disguise for India. Had India won the fourth ODI by a narrow margin, all the shortcomings would have been brushed under the carpet.

Now that the series is alive, it gives one final opportunity for India to address all the inadequacies that have cropped up in the recent past.

It's time for Kohli & Co. to indulge in a lot of soul-searching before the mega event in England.