Problems with batsmen in Perth (PC-PC-PTI)
Sunil Gavaskar scored 34 centuries in his Test career. Allan Border has 27 Test centuries to his name. Both have also been captains of their respective teams. Gavaskar bid farewell to cricket in the late 80s. Allen Border played for 5-6 more years. But both batsmen will be shocked to see what happened on the first day of the Perth Test. They fell 17 wickets on the first day of the Perth Test. Not that 17 wickets have never fallen in a day before in Test cricket. This has happened many times before. In fact, 27 wickets have also fallen in a day. In 1988, 27 wickets fell on the second day of the Lord’s Test between Australia and England. This is a record in the long history of Test cricket.
Talking about the Indian team, in the Bengaluru Test against Afghanistan in 2018, they fell 24 wickets on the second day of play. But when wickets fell in large numbers on a single day, there used to be a difference in the performance of both the teams. That means one team used to be stronger than the other. In the Perth Test, the current first and second ranked teams in Test cricket were playing. It is surprising to see such condition of the first and second team batsmen ranked in the ICC rankings. It is surprising that only one of the great batsmen like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne is capable of crossing double figures in a single Test match. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne are the only KL Rahul who could reach 26 runs. In such a situation, the question is: which batsmen batted worst in the India-Australia team?
No one’s house is no longer safe
There are still four days of play left in the Perth test. The result can be anything. But the message received from the Perth Test was that if wickets are built that provide excessive assistance to fast bowlers, the host team will also face problems. This is exactly the same as how India had recently created friendly wickets to catch New Zealand. But to achieve it you had to give. The New Zealand team won all three Test matches of the series by batting sparingly and patiently against the spin bowlers. This was the reason why India faced a challenge in the World Test Championship because New Zealand defeated India 3-0.
When the Indian team made 150 runs, their fans were disappointed. Everyone felt that the Indian team’s batsmen had given up. But when it was the kangaroos’ turn, the situation did not change. The Australian players were playing at home. If you compare the first day’s play, you will find that the Indian team had still crossed the fifty-run mark after losing 4 wickets. The Australian team had lost 6 wickets in 47 runs. That is to say, this score shows that the fight was not about who would hit better, but rather the fight seemed to be about who would hit worse.
All the Indian batsmen were trapped.
It was also interesting in the Perth Test that all the Indian team players were trapped in the first innings. This has happened before on a few occasions in the history of Test cricket. Goalie Alex Carey made four of these catches. Alex Carey took the catches of KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikal and Jasprit Bumrah. However, there is a lot of controversy over the capture of KL Rahul. Many cricketers raise questions about the technology. Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne also took two catches each. Virat Kohli was caught by Usman Khawaja. In contrast, of the seven wickets Australia lost, 3 batsmen were LBW and one was clean bowling. 3 players were trapped behind the wicket. But now, if we talk about the quality of batting, the matter will get a bit technical.
Firstly, understand that no batsman in the world wants to bowl or has LBW. This is because being out both ways means that the batsman has completely missed the line of the ball. Due to incorrect line “judgment” he was bowled or had LBW. Even after being caught, one has to return to the pavilion, but it remains to be said that there was a mistake in understanding the movement of the ball and it went ‘edge’, i.e. the ball touched the edge of the bat. Many times the ball does not quite reach the bat and the throw is made at the wrong time. It also happens that the shot does not have as much force as it should. Overall, the result is surprising.
Australian batsmen also in poor condition in Perth
Now let us also know who were the bowling and LBW batsmen of Australia. As well as Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith were LBW and Travis Head was bowling. Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are among the great Test batsmen. Travis Head is a big hater of India. He last scored a century in the final of the World Test Championship. Travis Head had also scored a century in the World Cup final. That is, if you evaluate the first day of this match neutrally, you will find that the host team’s batsmen were seen making more mistakes than the Indian team’s batsmen at their home ground.
