Media and pundits often go overboard with the arrival of a young talent, terming him as a ‘next big thing’. When young Barinder Sran was picked for the One-Day series in Australia, many eyebrows were raised as till then he was an unknown commodity. His performances began to be monitored hereon and he did make an impression in the practice games too. On the eve of his international debut, when a game’s great like Sunil Gavaskar mentioned that the 23-year-old with handful of domestic game will give India the edge against the world champions Australia, it did feel as if the youngster was being overburdened with expectations. The first One-Day International (ODI) between India and Australia at Perth gave the world a live account of young Sran, and we know perhaps Gavaskar made a lot of sense. The youngster made an immediate impact and the expectations are only likely to grow in times to come. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Australia 2015-16, 1st ODI at Perth
A side especially India draws a lot of criticism when they lose. India may have lost at Perth but they will take away plenty of positives from this encounter and one of them definitely is Sran. He bowls at a pace of late 130s kmph has variations up his sleeve and most importantly he possesses an intelligent head. It is pretty evident from the way he set up batsmen.
The match at Perth saw three debutants take field today — all pace bowlers. While left-armer Joel Paris and Scott Boland were far from imposing, Sran in comparison bowled as if he was the leader of the Indian bowling attack. The Indian batsmen had put up 309 on the board, courtesy a record 207-run second wicket stand between Rohit Sharma (171 not out) and Virat Kohli (91). This meant that the bowlers had plenty to defend but in reality it wasn’t going to be easy against a strong Australian batting line-up. India’s worst fears came true as the bowlers couldn’t defend the huge total thanks to the Steven Smith (149) and George Bailey’s (112) union of 242. READ: Steven Smith, George Bailey power Australia to 5-wicket win in 1st ODI vs India at Perth
However, the start in the second innings belonged to India. Sran sent back both the dangerous openers with 21 on the board. In fact, Aaron Finch — usually a patient starter in ODIs — was in a carnage mood and the way he was swivelling the willow, it seemed he looked forward to gain a mental edge by slaughtering the young bowler out of the attack. Sran, who started his spell with short-pitched stuff, now mixed it well and Finch almost dragged the eighth ball he bowled to the stumps. It went for a boundary off the inside edge. The big moment came the next ball; Sran didn’t have to depend on anyone. Finch fell a victim to a sharp reflex return catch and there was his maiden international wicket. READ: MS Dhoni hands Barinder Sran India cap ahead of 1st ODI against Australia
Next to go was David Warner; it was the fifth over of the match and Sran’s third. Sran displayed his variations and the batsman was his Rajasthan Royals teammate Smith, who before the match had praised the bowler and went on to say that he had shared info about the left-armer to his team. Sran started the over with one pitched up, followed it with a short-ball that squared the batsman, the third was again on the shorter side and Smith got a single. The bowler was looking to set his rhythm and the egoist Warner wouldn’t allow that. Trying to negate the factor, he decided to do what he did best and looked to launch one over mid-off but he found Kohli out there. That wasn’t it, Warner got a dose of his medicine when the youngster went ahead and gave the batsman, a send-off.
Sran’s first spell could have been a decisive one had India opted for DRS or had the umpire watched it more minutely. The first ball Bailey received was short on the leg-side and angled towards him. Bailey looking to pull it gloved that one to Dhoni. The youngster was robbed off his third wicket and a very good limited-overs player that Bailey is, he went on to craft a match-winning 112. READ: Barinder Sran: All you need to know about India’s next big left-arm pace bowling hope
What India could have done better?
It’s easy to criticise when a side loses but India were outplayed here by Smith and Bailey. None of the tactics from Dhoni was working and with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja leaking runs, Australia kept on milking the bowlers for easy runs.
Sran, who bowled six overs in his first spell was the most impressive and the only who picked the wickets, therefore it was highly surprising that he had to wait for another 28 overs to get his second spell. By then Smith and Bailey had sealed it in the host’s favour.
Agreed that Sran carries the reputation of a shrewd bowling in slog overs but one needs to do adequately to ensure the match drags till the death overs. While it was a one way traffic thereon, but Sran didn’t give it away. We saw a range of slow bouncers and back-of-the-hand slower deliveries.
Sran and Smith shared an interesting duel and the Australian captain didn’t hesitate to have a few words with his former IPL teammate. In the end, Sran did manage to dismiss Smith and that too for 149. This time with a slower ball, Smith gets to the drive early and spoons it to Kohli at short cover. Ironical as Australia were just two short. Sran was far from the over. He saw James Faulkner come down the wicket, so he bowled a back-of-the-hand slower one which just went down the leg-stump. The scores were level and a ball later, a single sealed it. Sran finished with 9.2-0-56-3.
In hindsight, India after a very good start with the bat but fell 10 to 12 runs short. India lost only three wickets in their innings and after 40 overs were 216. They should have got in excess of hundred in the last 10 overs but again a target of 310 was a good one.
Australia were allowed easy singles and needless overthrows in the middle overs. Australia were 40 for 2 after 10 overs and the next 20 overs cost India 140 with only 50 out of them coming in sixes and fours. There were many overs which saw six singles been taken of them or three singles and a boundary, and that hurt India. It was strange that during those middle overs when the spinners struggled, Sran wasn’t given a second spell then. Part of blame in India’s defeat does lie in the weird tactics and having said that, though there were no guarantees, it would surely be worth a call.
Hopefully in matches to follow, India will learn from the experience and use the young talent in a more judicious way.
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer, strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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