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India vs Australia 2nd Test: Top-order muddle, lower-order muscle
India were struggling at 139/7 with Australia eyeing a big first-innings lead but Axar Patel and R Ashwin raised a century stand for the eighth wicket to leave the second Test evenly poised after Day 2
At various points during India’s innings on Day 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, we heard an all-too-familiar refrain. Familiar yet worrying at the same time.
When the hosts lost KL Rahul early, we shrugged our shoulders and said, ‘don’t worry, India bat deep.’ When Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara walked back in quick succession, we said ‘don’t worry, India bat deep’. When Shreyas Iyer was caught brilliantly by Peter Handscomb, the same old... don’t worry, India bat deep. But then when Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and KS Bharat fell within 24 balls, the tone changed.
India bat deep but should it have to rely on the lower-order in every second game? At 139/7, after Australia had made 263 in their first innings, the hosts were in big trouble. Only R Ashwin and Axar Patel – among the recognised batters – remained. Could they once again rescue the team?
As it turned out, they could. The duo batted with the calm assurance and pleasant style that had eluded most of the top-order batters barring Virat Kohli. When they were done after a 114-run stand off 177 balls, India had incredibly moved to within 10 runs of the Australian total.
India were finally all out for 262, just one run behind Australia. The visitors, in their second innings, got to 61 for the loss of Usman Khawaja’s wicket before close of play. Travid Head, who was promoted to the opener’s slot after David Warner was ruled out of the match due to a concussion (he also has a hairline fracture in the elbow), was batting on 39 off 40 and giving him company was Marnus Labuschange on 16.
The law of averages may catch up with the Indian team at some point, but for now the grit and determination of the lower order is a stumbling block for every team that plays them. It almost feels wrong to categorise them as the lower-order, perhaps extended middle order is better. For that is how good they are.
And that is something Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon (5/67) agrees with as well. When asked what makes this particular India lower order so difficult to bowl to, he said: “They are not the lower order. Let us get that clear. Axar and Ash could bat in the top six of many teams around the world. Probably right to say it is a very long top order."
Bright start by the Aussies
At the start of the day, though, it had seemed a day that Australia would dominate. Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann were in operation and they found the right line and length quickly. It kept the batters honest.
And if you can do that often enough, you will get reward for your hard work. Lyon first sent back Rahul, then followed it up with a beauty to get rid of Sharma and finally Pujara. In the space of 16 balls, India had lost three wickets for eight runs.
That should have been enough to put India on alert but if it wasn’t then Iyer’s wicket provided another reminder.
Kohli and Jadeja calmed the waters a bit with a 59-run stand, with the former looking very assured in the middle. The former India skipper used his feet well and looked set for a big one until he got what looked like an iffy decision from umpire Nitin Menon.
The ball was really close to the bat when it struck the pad and as Hawkeye showed, it was brushing the leg-stump too. But that was that and Kohli (44) was walking back to the pavilion named after him.
Axar-Ashwin take over
Thereafter, it was the Axar-Ashwin show. The left-hander, who had scored 84 in the first Test, followed it up with another fine 74 – the only fifty in India’s innings.
He was the more aggressive of the two batters but Ashwin (37) played his role well. When the duo had come together, Australia would have been sensing a huge lead but by the time they were dismissed, those hopes had evaporated into fine fragments of frustration.
“We were under pressure and a little behind in the game,” said Axar in the press conference after close of play. “The plan was to get as close to the Australian total as possible. We felt the wicket was easing out a bit and we were batting well too. We ended up just one run short and that feels good.”
To be in the ascendancy and then watch the opposition fight back can take a lot out of any team and Australia are no different. However, they came out fighting in their second innings.
The 2013 Test between India and Australia at Delhi had been quite a battle as well until Pujara (82 off 92 balls) turned things on in the fourth innings. Australia had scored 262 in the first innings and India had responded with 272 before hustling Australia out for 164 in the second innings. Then, India scored 158/4 in just 31.2 overs.
India will hope for a similar outcome, but for the fans it sets the match up to be a one innings, winner-takes-all battle. Everyone’s got everything to play for.
