India close in, Oz seek turnaround

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

indore, september 23

Surprise, surprise! In sharp contrast to their preparations for the first and second ODIs, where leg-spinners and chinaman bowlers crowded their nets, Australia had no chinaman bowler and just one leg-spinner in their nets on the eve of the third ODI here today. Turned out the marked change was largely forced, and partially intentional. The Australians did ask for one chinaman, no leg-spinner though, but the host association, the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, didn’t have any chinaman of repute in the entire state. However, when faced with a similar situation ahead of the first match in Chennai, the Aussies had flown in a chinaman from Kerala! So while non-availability was the main factor in Australia not getting their wish here, it’s also clear that the visitors aren’t as keen as earlier to face the wrist spinners ahead of the contest.

The enthusiasm may have ebbed because a heavy dose of wrist spin in the nets hasn’t yielded any promising results. Most of the Australians batsmen have looked absolutely clueless against Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Australian skipper Steve Smith, looking absolutely gutted after the second ODI, almost admitted that his batsmen were perhaps thinking too much and trying too hard to succeed against the spinners. “Maybe the guys are trying to watch the ball too closely (against spinners) and forgetting about just playing the game,” he said. “It needs to change and we need to make better decisions when we’re under pressure and start playing the game properly.”

Against this backdrop, it’s probably a blessing in disguise that they didn’t face much wrist spin heading into what’s going to be a do-or-die game for the Australians. Facing the prospect of a series loss in just the third game of a five-match series is not a situation Australia find themselves in very often; in fact, if India win tomorrow, it will be the first time they will beat the Aussies thrice in a row in a single series. If that happens, it will be a big achievement for India and a major embarrassment for Australia, the reigning world champions. Australia opener David Warner didn’t like it one bit when a reporter, while calling into question their struggle against spin, mischievously reminded him they are the world champions. “We are world champions but with a different team. When we became world champions, we were playing with a different team,” Warner snapped. “The team has undergone some chopping and changing. We have to find a stable team and one which works out best for the 2019 World Cup. It is a work in progress.”

The left-handed opener hoped that they would be able to turn around their fortunes in tomorrow’s game. Well, it’s certainly not going to be easy, considering the boundaries here are relatively smaller and the wicket probably full of runs — an ideal setting for India to showcase their full batting might. And if that happens, Australia will have a lot on their plate to deal with.

For whatever it is worth, the hosts have won all four ODIs played on this ground and look set to make it five in five. 

At present, there’s hardly any chink in India’s armour that the Aussies can exploit, except for maybe the failure of the middle order to come good. While Manish Pandey has failed in both the matches, Kedar Jadhav was guilty of throwing away his wicket at the wrong time in both the games. Jadhav has proven he’s capable of finishing the innings, but he needs to show that he can also build it as and when the situation demands. But unless Australia raise the bar by several notches, these minor issues aren’t likely to hurt India.