India vs Australia, 1st Test, Day 2, preview: A day-six track on offer

If Day One was played on a last-day track, the challenge is only going to get tougher. The cracks will open up more. The patches will get rougher. The wickets will fall at a brisker rate. There will be more appeals. The umpire will be under more pressure than usual. Moreover, the third umpire will be busier checking reviews. If all this happens, India will be at the same end on Day Two as Australia was on the opening day of the first of the four-Test series at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Full cricket scorecard: India vs Australia, 1st Test

After the ball took off from middle stump towards first slip, a team fallible against spin should not have scored  256 for 9. Against the might of No. 1 and No. 2 bowlers on a spinner-friendly track, a team frail in subcontinent conditions should not have scored  256 for 9.

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Australia would not have crossed 200 had Matt Renshaw and Mitchell Starc not scored fifties. By now Indian  batsmen should have had 100 runs on the scorecard had Renshaw not played characteristic knock and Starc not taken the bull by its horn in the last session.

“It looks like a day-five pitch at the start. The toss is going to be very crucial,” said Shane  Warne during the pitch report. Australia, for that matter, had their upper hand in luck if not performance. Smith called it right and elected to bat first: “It looks very dry and should stay low and could spin from ball one.”

Smith was spot on. Renshaw outside-edged the first ball of the match past the slip cordon. He inside-edged the first ball he faced off Ravichandran Ashwin. David Warner tried to come down the track, but could not get under it given the bounce. It seemed India might wrap up the innings by tea.  Live blog: India vs Australia, 1st Test

Australia’s chance to start the series on a positive note looked bleak. This was a rank-turner they were batting first on. This was not the start they would have hoped for.

However, the cracks will only widen up as the match progresses. “It is 40-degrees Celsius in the afternoons and it could well spin from ball one. But when the ball lands on the footmarks, the ball will misbehave and reverse for the quicks as well,” said Ravi Shastri in his booming voice. No wonder why his messages are often loud and clear.

Come to think of it, Australia would have faltered even badly had they batted second. “I’ve never seen a pitch like this in Indian conditions. A pitch that dry suggests that there has been no water on this for the last 7-8 days,” Shastri added.

The eventual score suggests that Australia did not play well as a cohesive unit. But the way Warner and Renshaw started, it seemed as if their hard work in the practice sessions had paid off. Warner got behind the ball. Renshaw’s long strides erased the chances of him trapped lbw. They dealt in singles. They put away deliveries that were in their strong zone. In short they sensibly applied themselves.

They added 82 for the first wicket, in 27.2 overs. As a matter of fact, they would have gone into lunch without any loss of wicket. However, Umesh Yadav castled Warner when they were 20 minutes into the lunch. Not only did they lose Warner, but Renshaw followed him in the dressing room as he was retired ill, citing stomach bug. Not to mock him but he urgently needed a toilet break.

With Smith and Shaun Marsh in the middle, the scorecard read 84 for 1 at lunch, with Australia winning the first session.

Australia started off the second session in a similar way. Marsh scored two boundaries off Umesh as well as rotated the strike. Smith, at the other end, played the waiting game, for India had dished out a plan to bowl on legs and trap him in front. He survived. Most of the times he presented a full face of the bat. He shuffled but made sure he plays the ball according to its line. Kohli tried Umesh, Ishant, Jadeja, Jayant, and even Ashwin to get the second wicket. Against pace or spin, Australia seemed invincible. For a while, it seemed the match is a reminiscence of the series opener against England, who put up a big total and ended the match in a draw.

The time the fans thought the visitors are in command, Shaun played a sweep he should not have. He edged the ball to Kohli at leg-slip. In came Handscomb. Jadeja trapped him in front. 2 out of the first 3 wickets fell to spin. Ashwin was the only wicketless spinner. He, too, hunted a fish but the biggest one. He had Smith caught at mid-wicket. 3 out of the first 4 wickets fell to spin. The venom had started to take its effect. Australian batsmen were getting poisoned. Jadeja then trapped Mitchell lbw. 4 out of the 5 wickets fell to spin.

The scorecard read 166 for 5. The match that everyone thought would end in a draw was quickly inching towards an early finish. For a moment, everyone thought the Indian spinners would run through the Australian tail and restrict them below 200.

Then came another twist. Renshaw reached his fifty, but soon Ashwin dismissed him for 68. Australia’s last hope was back as well. Mitchell Starc was at the crease, but he is still not considered a complete all-rounder. Agreed that he has a 99 in India, but that was on a different wicket altogether.

He first hit fours, followed by colossal sixes over deep mid-wicket. He targeted anyone who was pitted against him. By the time India could realise the damage, he had raced past his 9th fifty. Meantime, Umesh had taken 3 more wickets and was on the verge of taking a five-for. But Australia’s last batting pair played out the last 13.1 overs to end the day at 256 for 9.

From Australia being in the driver’s seat to India taking complete control at the end of day’s play, Day One was topsy-turvy. Hence, Day Two is likely to be same. Starc, who had taken wickets at 15.12 in Sri Lanka, may reduce India to rubble. The spin duo of Lyon and O’Keefe may compel India into playing rash shots. In other words India may as well struggle on Day Two like their opposition did. Or, they may bat as if they bat on a different track altogether and score heaps of runs.