IND vs AUS: How a pre-match Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid huddle turned the tables on Australia
Cricket pundits usually fall back on a time-tested cliche to keep fans invested in a Test match. Most end-of-the-day’s play shows conclude with a tantalising line that’s pregnant with possibilities. “The first session tomorrow will be crucial.”
At Kotla, the promise of Day 2 was kept in the first two hours of Day 3. Australia went from a commanding 62/1 to 113 all out. The reason for India’s turnaround could well be a conversation that took place at the start of play. Before the warm-up drills, skipper Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid, members of support staff and key bowlers were seen having a chat. After the match, Rohit said it was about the day’s gameplan.
Hello from Delhi 👋
Pep talk in a team huddle ✅
LIVE action coming up shortly 👍 👍#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/TtB7ZiMuXG
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 19, 2023
Last evening, the Indian spinners, for the first time in this series, had not looked menacing. Aussie opener Travis Head had scored an almost run-a-ball 39 that had 5 fours and 1 six. Marnus Labuschagne too had looked threatening. The pitch too seemed to be easing. Axar Patel, after the day’s play, had said that the surface was getting slower. Was it time to press the panic button? That is exactly what, according to Rohit, they didn’t want the three spinners to do. He spoke about how the team paused, regrouped and struck again.
“Sometimes you’ve got to keep it simple, not to complicate too much. Yesterday we bowled about 12 or 13 overs and they were 62, which is more than five and a half. And I could see that we were panicking a little bit, we were trying to change fields way too many times, but in the morning we just wanted to tell those three guys (Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin and Axar) to keep it calm, we don’t need to change fields as often as we did last evening. We keep it there, we keep it tight, and let the batters make that make,” he said.
Ravindra Jadeja celebrates picking a wicket alongside skipper Rohit Sharma on day three of the India-Australia Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)
Low bounce does them in
Former India player Mohammad Kaif, part of Star Sports commentary team for this series, made a pertinent point about the batting approach at the business end of the Test match. “Batting during the final moments of the Test is less about what is your head position, it is more about what is your ‘mind position’,” he said during the first session between his commentary stint.
This was when Australia were losing wickets, and probably their patience too. Labuschagne had a close shave while reverse sweeping, Steve Smith wasn’t that lucky when trying the conventional sweep. Other top-order batsmen to get out sweeping were Matt Renshaw and Alex Carey. Skipper Pat Cummins’s dismissal could be the most-traumatic for the Aussie fans. On the very first ball the tall pacer went for a heave-ho hit but missed the line and was bowled.
The reason for most Aussies getting out to the sweep shot was the low bounce. Starting with Smith, their bat swing was too high and the lack of bounce did them in. Rohit touched upon the importance of shot-selection on Indian tracks.
“Some particular shots needed to be focussed on. What sort of shots to play. In Nagpur, we were playing on red soil, and on red soil, you need to employ a different technique. Here, it’s black soil, so the technique is different. We knew that playing the sweep is not a good option here. The safer option would be to step down and play straight. That’s my opinion. Other batters may have a different approach but that’s what I thought would work here.”
Will KL Rahul play at Indore?
Will India retain their winning combination for the 3rd Test that starts on March 1? The more direct question is: Will KL Rahul, after two more modest outings at Kotla, retain his place in playing XI? The question becomes important since the opener Shubman Gill, is in red-hot form but is confined to drinks duty. Going form, it’s a no-brainer that Gill should get preferred over Rahul. Even if the team management sticks to a conservative approach and gives the out-of-form proven player longer rope, time has run out for the team’s vice-captain. Captain Rohit, as expected, kept his playing XI plans for Indore close to the chest.
“Of late, there have been talks about his batting, but for us as team management, we always look at the potential of every individual, not just KL. I was asked in the past about a lot of players, but if the guy has potential, they will get that extended run. Anyone. If you look at the couple of hundreds he got outside India. Of late, there has been criticism but from us, it was clear that we want him to go out and play his game. When you’re playing on pitches like this you need to find your methods of scoring runs. Different individuals are part of this team and they will have different ways of scoring runs. Finding your own method is important. We are not going to look too much into what one individual is doing, we’re going to see how the team is doing, how everyone comes together. This is an important series for us.”
