Australia expose Indian batting’s fallibilities, but are not entirely compact themselves headline into Gabba, as series poised at 1-1 | Cricket News

“Can’t wait to get you at the Gabba,” was the most viral takeaway from India’s triumphant tour to Australia in 2021. It was the sledge from Australia’s then captain Tim Paine that went pear shaped for him, and his team, as it was at Gabba, the ground in Brisbane, that India clinched a famous series win. It is to that horic arena that India will now head out for the third Test, hoping it receives them with open-arms again. The series now stands 1-1 after India’s loss in little over two days at Adelaide. What one feared might happen at Perth transpired in Adelaide. It raises the fear whether Perth was an aberration and Adelaide the norm. But Perth has taught us not just about Indians’s bouncebackability, but also about Australia’s iffiness, too. These are essentially two competitive teams performing below-par in their batting, and possessing the traits to be inconsent. Not only has India had batting collapses in recent times, the Australian Test team too has suffered a few. When the ball moves around, it cannot be said with any certainty about either team that their batsmen will weather it. And until that vulnerability perss, the series will remain open. Until one set of batting unit is able to achieve consency, the see-saw might yet continue.
The pink ball Test came at a wrong time for India. With the ball that kept moving around in different phases, and Australia possessing just the right kind of bowlers in Mitch Starc, with his swing, and Scott Boland, with his ability to seam, to make use of the conditions that posed different problems in different times – sometimes it would swing more, at times it seamed more, Indian batting unit was going to struggle.
Add to it, their inexperience with the pink ball, itself. Had it been a regular Test, India might have hoped to ride on the Perth momentum, but they were almost slated to struggle in this game. If the conditions were similar to those that they confronted in the second innings of the first Test, they have the wherewithal to res, flourish, and progress. In tougher conditions where the ball moves around, they are yet to show that they can.
Australia’s Mitchell Starc celebrates the dismissal of India’s Ravichandran Ashwin during the day one of the second cricket test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/James Els)
It’s not necessarily the pace or bounce that seems to unsettle them as much as the movement in air or off the pitch that exposes their vulnerability. It will be interesting to see the kind of pitch Brisbane throws up. These days, apart from the pink-ball Test, Australia don’t have the tracks of the past, where the ball not only bounces sharply but seams around. Unless, specifically, the curators leave on extra patches of grass.
“Getting runs is very important,” India’s captain Rohit Sharma would say. That is not debatable but the process to get it is. “We had lots of chats about the plans, and each batsman of course works on what’s best for them.” Different approaches were tried at the game; some tried to defend, a couple tried to attack, but nothing quite gelled effectively. It does hurt when Rohit, himself as the captain, can seem as if he was playing from memory. He didn’t have much chance really against the pink-ball with the way his game stands at the moment, and with the kind of lead-up to the game he had. Brisbane can suit him better.
But what will hurt India the most is that they allowed things to slip into danger territory with their own acts. On the first day, the Australian bowling wasn’t as sharp as it would become later, and the conditions hadn’t quite moved into their favour, when Indians made the Aussie job easier. First, Virat Kohli with a loose innings, filled with errors of judgement, chasing deliveries he shouldn’t and eventually unsure whether to leave or play a ball did him in. Then Shubman Gill, who had looked so good until that moment, played all around, rather casually, to a full ball. Suddenly from 69 for 1, India were 81 for 4 and from then, the Australians figured out the way to use the conditions. There is no saying that they wouldn’t have if Kohli and Gill hadn’t given away their wickets easily, but the Indians did leave the door ajar.
India can look back at little things, like that. The selection of Harshit Rana instead of Akash Deep, whose bowling suits the skiddy pink-ball movement. “Rana did nothing wrong at Perth. He has dil and Jigar (heart and grit), how could we leave him out after one game, it won’t be fair,” Rohit would say. Fair points, but considering he did leave out Washington Sundar for R Ashwin, the same horses-for-courses logic could have been applied in Rana’s case too.
Another thing that these two Tests has already taught us is that the game can run away far too quickly in Australia if the batting isn’t good. Both games blurred on at hectic pace, with their future decided in an hour on the second day itself. Yet another learning is that we can’t back or back-out of supporting either team – not yet, at least. It’s not as if India were all-ahead with momentum after Perth. Likewise, it can’t be said Australia holds all the cards now. Due to their batting fallibility.
It can be expected that India will bring in Akash at Brisbane but are unlikely to make any other change. Australia will have to ponder if they want to see Boland as a bowler who needs the pink-ball spiciness to be as effective or give Josh Hazlewood one more game to recover before bringing him back. But essentially, the change will involve just one bowler.

The series is on an even-keel in more ways than one. Australia have Travis Head; India have Rishabh Pant. Australia have Mitch Marsh; India Nitish Reddy. The bowling attack sort of evens out, if India bring in Akash (the presence of a fit Mohammad Shami might just have tilted it in favour of India but they are still sweating on his fitness). It will come down to the other batsmen in both squads. And most importantly the Brisbane pitch, the Gabbatoir.