*Official* Australia in India 2023

[Xix2565]

I did think Rohit's captaincy prior to tea was remarkably poor in an oddly unremarkable sort of way; the sheer number of easy singles on offer unquestionably made it far easier for Khawaja and Labuschagne to settle in and get the scoreboard ticking. Basically gave away the entire first innings lead for minimal risk - well, as minimal as you can get on a pitch where every third ball is doing something completely random.

That though is part of the issue with not having runs to defend while attacking early on, so it's not entirely on him. And even then if Jadeja didn't overstep, would it be great captaincy if then suddenly the Australian team fell apart for basically the same amount of runs? I have more issues with how the bowlers went about it really.

 

[Spark]

That though is part of the issue with not having runs to defend while attacking early on, so it's not entirely on him. And even then if Jadeja didn't overstep, would it be great captaincy if then suddenly the Australian team fell apart for basically the same amount of runs? I have more issues with how the bowlers went about it really.

Well yeah that's why having good batting actually matters in Tests.

Obviously we're doomed to be extremely outcome-driven in how we analyse cricket, the amount of variables and unknowables is as long as it is in sport. But I do think he really didn't give his bowlers their best chance to build up rhythm and bowl long spells at a single batsman by tying them down. And to be fair to him it can't be easy to set a field when bowlers are bowling both sides of the wicket, it really seemed like both Ashwin and Jadeja were bothered by having to adjust to a L/R combination.

 

[Xix2565]

Well yeah that's why having good batting actually matters in Tests.

Obviously we're doomed to be extremely outcome-driven in how we analyse cricket, the amount of variables and unknowables is as long as it is in sport. But I do think he really didn't give his bowlers their best chance to build up rhythm and bowl long spells at a single batsman by tying them down.

Yeah, but it's not like batters get to bat however they want though? Australia bowled really well yesterday, and really took advantage of the conditions to put pressure on India. Even then I'd see it more as what the bowlers are doing rather than the batters throwing it away.

 

[Spark]

Yeah, but it's not like batters get to bat however they want though? Australia bowled really well yesterday, and really took advantage of the conditions to put pressure on India. Even then I'd see it more as what the bowlers are doing rather than the batters throwing it away.

Yeah that's fair. The Smith dismissal shows that: he batted well, looked good, did all the right things, just got one he simply couldn't play safely.

 

[Xix2565]

I mean it's not like we didn't get dumb dismissals, but I do think people should keep this in mind from Cricinfo's Karthik Krishnaswamy:

And so it went, as Khawaja and Labuschagne built the day's biggest partnership, by far. They put on 96 runs, and occupied the crease for 198 balls. The entire India innings had lasted 200 balls.

It wasn't that India didn't threaten to break this stand at various points. But it was the kind of day when nothing seemed to go their way. When Jadeja finally broke the second-wicket stand, the shooter he bowled Labuschagne with was the 49th ball of Australia's innings to draw a false shot, according to ESPNcricinfo's control data.

Australia lost two wickets over those 49 not-in-control balls. India lost all 10 over the course of 51 not-in-control balls.

 

[Spark]

I mean it's not like we didn't get dumb dismissals, but I do think people should keep this in mind from Cricinfo's Karthik Krishnaswamy:

There's more nuance to this though. A lot of those "not-in-control" balls, like I'd go as far as to say 40+ of them, were balls that turned away from the bat and the batsman missed them by a good six inches just playing a cautious defensive shot. Obviously that counts as a "not in control", but in practice you have to be pretty unlucky (or make a huge error by pushing your hands out at the ball/attacking the ball) to actually be dismissed by it; it's not hitting the stumps and you're unlikely to get anywhere near it.

 

[Nintendo]

There's more nuance to this though. A lot of those "not-in-control" balls, like I'd go as far as to say 40+ of them, were balls that turned away from the bat and the batsman missed them by a good six inches just playing a cautious defensive shot. Obviously that counts as a "not in control", but in practice you have to be pretty unlucky (or make a huge error by pushing your hands out at the ball/attacking the ball) to actually be dismissed by it; it's not hitting the stumps and you're unlikely to get anywhere near it.

Could also be balls that fielders just weren't in place for either, right? I didn't catch the last session but there was basically no fielders on the bat for most of the marnus-usman partnership. Doesn't matter if I pop an inside edge off my pad towards short leg if there's no fielder to catch it.

 

[honestbharani]

So much of captaincy is about being able to read and react to situations of the game and while our spinners were guilty of trying too hard yesterday, i don't think it is any less factual to point out Rohit's captaincy has been pretty poor in such situations for a while now.

 

[Spark]

Could also be balls that fielders just weren't in place for either, right? I didn't catch the last session but there was basically no fielders on the bat for most of the marnus-usman partnership. Doesn't matter if I pop an inside edge off my pad towards short leg if there's no fielder to catch it.

Yeah this is why I'm so critical of Rohit's captaincy. A lot of balls were popped in the air square of the wicket on either side that could have been chances, but were instead easy singles.

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah this is why I'm so critical of Rohit's captaincy. A lot of balls were popped in the air square of the wicket on either side that could have been chances, but were instead easy singles.

That field for the very first ball was honestly deplorable.

 

[Spark]

That field for the very first ball was honestly deplorable.

Like I said, the bowlers didn't help by not allowing him to set a field that only defended one side of the wicket, but I genuinely couldn't believe that Rohit was letting us off so easy. Khawaja and Marnus batted very well but it's hard to believe that a high quality attack, used properly, could allow a partnership of near a hundred to develop on that wicket barring some sort of out-of-the-box Bazball counterattack which just bamboozles everyone. Certainly not a partnership of a hundred in basically singles and twos. At least make the batsmen earn their runs.

 

[Nintendo]

Like I said, the bowlers didn't help by not allowing him to set a field that only defended one side of the wicket, but I genuinely couldn't believe that Rohit was letting us off so easy. Khawaja and Marnus batted very well but it's hard to believe that a high quality attack, used properly, could allow a partnership of near a hundred to develop on that wicket barring some sort of out-of-the-box Bazball counterattack which just bamboozles everyone. Certainly not a partnership of a hundred in basically singles and twos. At least make the batsmen earn their runs.

Both captains did this tbf. We had india 5-50 and the field was spread with one on the bat and two in the ring from memory. Let bharat and kohli get a lot of easy singles.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah agree with all of this though it's also a balancing act to an extent because if he brings the field up and there's some attacking batting for about a dozen overs then the deficit is a long way towards being wiped off in short order. I'd think once it became apparent Aus were going to accumulate rather than blast away then bringing the field up would have made a lot more sense. Aus blocked boundaries effectively in 04 in India to stifle momentum and it's a tiny, fast scoring ground with a small total to play with. I can see it's a real balancing act for him but the strike rotation hurt India a lot.

I think I was more aggrieved at the lack of bowling rotations than the actual fields though.

 

[Spark]

Yeah agree with all of this though it's also a balancing act to an extent because if he brings the field up and there's some attacking batting for about a dozen overs then the deficit is a long way towards being wiped off in short order. I'd think once it became apparent Aus were going to accumulate rather than blast away then bringin the filed up would have made a lotmore sense.

I think I was more aggrieved at the lack of bowling rotations than the actual fields though.

For Head it made sense for sure because of that exact risk. But Khawaja isn't that sort of batsman, and Marnus definitely isn't early on in his innings (and he's also looked more and more limited in his scoring options as this tour has gone on because of how worried he is about that ball that rushes on against Jadeja).

In fairness re: the bowling rotations, the drop-off once Jadeja in particular comes out of the attack is vast. Axar isn't half the bowler he is.

 

[Nintendo]

For Head it made sense for sure because of that exact risk. But Khawaja isn't that sort of batsman, and Marnus definitely isn't early on in his innings (and he's also looked more and more limited in his scoring options as this tour has gone on because of how worried he is about that ball that rushes on against Jadeja).

In fairness re: the bowling rotations, the drop-off once Jadeja in particular comes out of the attack is vast. Axar isn't half the bowler he is.

Axar was a menace vs England, feels weird to see him lack so much control suddenly.

 

[Spark]

Axar was a menace vs England, feels weird to see him lack so much control suddenly.

I know this is going to come off as deeply ironic given how the two teams have gone in the last few months but taking poles against that England lineup wasn't that notable an achievement.

 

[Shri]

yesterday played out like aus finally faced what they had been preparing for

marginal turn and variable bounce ****s with their heads more than huge turn

 

[Spark]

the close-up shots of the pitch are hilarious. It looks truly dreadful.

 

[Burgey]

Different approach already - Siraj starts off

 

[TT Boy]

Green has had back issues in the past, and it can't be good if the seamers continue. Quasimodo stance.