Ayaz Memon: India need to re-emerge with new ambition

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  • Australia have the edge over India after the first game in Perth.

    Australia’s muscular performance brushed aside India’s challenge in the first ODI at Perth in a comprehensive manner. Though victory came only in the last over, in truth, the Aussies did not even really break into a sweat chasing 310.

    Beating the Aussies on their home turf was never going to be easy. In the World Cup played jointly down under last year, India’s fantastic run was brought to an abrupt end in the semi-final by Michael Clarke’s team which then went on to win the final.

    Some star players from that champion side are missing this time. Clarke and pace supremo Mitchell Johnson have since retired. Mitchel Starc, the best and highest wicket-taking bowler in the tournament, is in rehab after being injured during the Test series against New Zealand.

    But the exceptional quality of the remaining players, plus the talent of the bench strength, has ensured that Australia’s prowess remains undiminished despite the losses mentioned above if the performance in the opening match is any indication.

    Steve Smith, now captain, hasn’t allowed his Bradmanesque form to lapse. He seems to have a particular liking for Indian bowling, and this time 149 glorious runs flowed off his bat with some wondrous strokes all round the ground.

    Smith’s ally in helping Australia recover from a vulnerable 21-2 was former ODI captain George Bailey. It was a toss up between Bailey and Shaun Marsh for a place in the side, with a lot of people rooting for the younger man. But in hindsight Bailey’s inclusion proved inspired.

    There will be lingering speculation whether Bailey was out first ball or not. It was unclear whether the ball had taken an edge or had just brushed his pad. The umpire ruled in his favour, much to the consternation of the Indian team.

    Bailey himself was to say after the match that a review “would have been interesting”. But with India still adamantly opposed to DRS, there was obviously no second opinion possible. That’s where the issue must be laid to rest.

    In the context of the match, Bailey’s century was perhaps the more crucial for his side than Smith’s who won the man of the match. He was under pressure for his place, but he took the early risks to attack the Indian bowlers before Smith joined in wholeheartedly in the slaughter.

    Yet despite their efforts, 310 was a massive score to overhaul and India would surely spend most of the time since the defeat and the second ODI on Friday in ruing that they couldn’t go one-up in the series despite so many things working in their favour.

    Winning the toss was a big deal because bowlers are believed to get more assistance in the latter half of the day, when the ‘Fremantle Doc’ is blowing across the ground. Also, it is better to field in the evenings that are cooler, than the energy-sapping heat of the early afternoon.

    But even more significant perhaps was that the best performers of the day with bat and ball were from India – Rohit Sharma and debutant left-arm seamer Barinder Sran – but they still finished on the losing side.

    It’s not often than a batsman scores a monumental 171 not out and has to see his side lose. Rohit’s anguish would be understandable. His stature as a great ODI player (in contrast to a self-doubting Test batsman) only grows, but is not always reflected in the team’s achievements.

    Without doubt, Rohit was the best batsman in the match: as much for the longevity of his innings as the exhilarating strokeplay. But India lost the match and his effort was sadly upstaged – more by the result than the quality of his batsmanship.

    Then there was young Sran, who bowled so impressively in the warm-up games that it was impossible to omit him from the Perth match. Australia too had two debutants in Bolan and Paris, but Sran was clearly the pick of the lot with his nippy left-arm pace and ability to swing the ball late.

    Indeed, Sran was the best bowler on show from either side. Dhoni threw the new ball to him and the youngster responded with two wickets in his opening spell, those of hard-hitting openers Aaron Finch and David Warner, which almost brought Australia to their knees.

    Had he won the verdict against Bailey first ball, it would have tested Australia’s batting and resilience to the hilt. I am not suggesting that they would have lost because the Aussies bat very deep. But surely Sran had created a great opportunity for winning the match.

    Looking back, it is the failure of the Indian bowlers – especially the spinners – to exercise some control on batsmen on plumb wickets that cost the side dear. Both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who looked at the top of their game in the Tests against South Africa, lapsed in line and length and were put to the sword.

    This was not the first time the spinners had flopped on a batting pitch. The last ODI against South Africa back home too, it will be recalled, had seen these bowlers walloped mercilessly on a placid Wankhede pitch.

    That particular match had created a furore, what with both Team Director Ravi Shastri and skipper Dhoni wading into the curator Sudhir Naik for not preparing a track that would suit the Indian spinners.

    In Australia, there is is no scope for such recrimination. After the Perth debacle things can go rapidly downhill unless Shastri and Dhoni recover their wits quickly, recast strategy – perhaps even the team composition – and re-emerge with ambition and optimism revised.

    Simply put, what this means is that India will have to bat and bowl out of their skins if they are to win the series.

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