The sharp turning wicket used for the third Test between India and Australia in Indore backfired for the hosts as they endured a tough nine-wicket defeat on Friday. The Test got wrapped well inside three days with Australian spinners ruling the proceedings right from the word go. With this win, Australia now have a chance to finish the series on level terms, having already lost the opening two encounters of the four-match series.
India, who won the toss and opted to bat, were pushed on the backfoot on the opening day as Australia packed the hosts for 109 in the first innings. Matthew Kuhnemann did most damage as he went to claim his maiden five-wicket haul. He found great support from senior pro Nathan Lyon, who scalped three wickets.
Australia in response put up a decent show and managed to pile 197 on the board, and took a crucial lead of 88 runs. Lyon then produced a clinical show in the second innings as he accounted for eight Indian wickets, which helped Australia pack the hosts for 163 and leaving them with a paltry 76-run target.
Despite the target being very insignificant, many fans were hoping the Indian spin attack spearheaded by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to exploit the conditions and make things difficult for the opposition. With 76 required to win, Ashwin did exactly the same as he got India off to a perfect start by getting rid of Usman Khawaja in the first over of the day.
{{/usCountry}}Despite the target being very insignificant, many fans were hoping the Indian spin attack spearheaded by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to exploit the conditions and make things difficult for the opposition. With 76 required to win, Ashwin did exactly the same as he got India off to a perfect start by getting rid of Usman Khawaja in the first over of the day.
{{/usCountry}}However, India failed to capitalise on the early breakthrough as Travis Head along with Marnus Labuschagne soon changed the course of the run chase with their counter-attacking batting as Australia wrapped the proceedings in 18.5 overs. Head scored a blazing 49* off 53 balls, while Labuschagne scored 28 as both batters mostly dealt in boundaries. The pair hit a total of 12 fours and one six during the chase.
While Head and Labuschagne kept going the discussion mostly revolved around the change in ball, which took place during the 11th over of the run chase. Australia, who could only accumulate 13/1 in the first 10 overs, then went to add 65 runs in the next 8.5 overs.
When asked to Rohit Sharma to share his views on the same, the Indian skipper said it was the lack of runs, which cost his side the match and not the change in ball. “It was just 70 runs to get so you can't really look too much into the ball and all that. It's just we needed more runs on the board. The little things which happens on the ground doesn't really affect the skills and the mindset of the player.
“We felt the ball was not right, we changed it. Whenever you change the ball if the things don't fall into place then it looks ‘oh the ball wasn’t doing much', but if we would have got 2-3 wickets quickly it would have been different story. But again there was not enough runs on the board, that is where we should look at and that's what we are disappointed with, not the ball,” said Rohit during the post-match press conference.