Pune: Fast bowlers of either side made merry Thursday albeit in different ways, on a pitch which according to Shane Warne resembled the surface of the Mars at the MCA Stadium here. On a wicket, which turned square from the second over, pacer Umesh Yadav (4/32) brought India back into the game after Australia had looked determined for a long haul in the middle on the first day of the first Test of the four-Test series.
Then with India seemingly having the visitors on the mat at 205 for nine, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc (57 batting, 58b, 5×4, 3×6) reset the balance of the game with an aggressive knock. He put on 51 runs for the 10th wicket with No.10 batsman Josh Hazlewood (one batting), but more importantly gave Australia those extra runs to bowl with when India pad up Friday.
On a pitch where the ball has already started behaving strangely and that too with variable bounce, Starc himself will be a force to reckon with the red cherry in his hand. India will have to bat fourth here and on the fourth and fifth days, that looks a very difficult proposition considering that footmarks have already appeared on both sides of the pitch.
The toss was vital and Australia had a plan when they came out to bat and that was to wear out the India bowlers. Skipper Virat Kohli started with Ravi Ashwin (2/59) in the second over of the day, but that did not bother the two openers David Warner (38, 77b, 6×4) and Matt Renshaw (68, 156b, 10×4, 1×6). They played with soft hands, dealt the ball primarily on its length and ‘thwacked’ it whenever it was short enough.
Patience was the buzzword for the Aussies and they were intent on doing it to perfection. But the unerring accuracy of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja (2/74) and Yadav tested that also and at one point of time it finally took a toll. Just before lunch, Yadav had Warner playing away from his body with the ball hitting the inside age before crashing into the stumps. But even then the first session belonged to the Aussies, although Renshaw scampered away from the ground with Warner because of a stomach bug.
Modern day Test matches are all about winning sessions and Australia looked like running away with the second too before Ashwin and Jadeja struck. Prior to that Jayant Uadav (1/58) had sent back Shaun Marsh, caught in the leg-trap trying to sweep.
However, skipper Steve Smith (27, 95b 2×4) and Peter Handscomb (22, 45b, 3×4) were batting with determined solidarity before Jadeja struck with a straight ball on a spinning pitch that caught Handscomb plumb in front. Five balls later, Ashwin floated one up, ever so teasingly and Smith, who had for so long resisted the temptation to hit over the top, failed to keep his drive down and Kohli’s joy knew no bounds as he gleefully accepted the catch at mid-on.
Suddenly, the post-lunch session was India’s. And the post-tea session looked going India’s way too as wickets tumbled in quick succession, before Starc took over, using the slog sweep to deadly effect. He was particularly severe on Jadeja hitting the left-arm spinner for 14 (4, 4, 6) in the bowler’s 24th over.
Whose day has it been? It definitely would have been India’s had it not been for Starc’s ninth fifty in Tests during which he also completed 1,000 runs in the longest format of the game. He has given Australia some breathing space and he himself will like to utilise it with the ball Friday.
Like it or not, Kohli’s men certainly have a battle on their hands.
Bangar backs Umesh’s ability with old ball
A few eyebrows may have been raised finding Umesh Yadav introduced into the attack in the 28th over but Indian team’s assistant coach Sanjay Bangar termed it as a part of the plan knowing the Vidarbha speedster’s ability to get reverse swing.
Umesh had the best Indian figures of 4/32 and all his wickets came with the old ball. “Umesh has been known to bowl well with the old ball. Even in the series against England, you could see he got a lot of reverse swing. We had held him back, expecting that the ball would reverse swing pretty early in the innings. It was the precise plan to hold him back as there were two left-handers at the top of Australia’s order,” Bangar said at the media conference.
“It’s all part of the plan, wherein you know the instinct or strength that each individual possesses. We know that Ishant (Sharma) has troubled a number of left-handers from the Australian team over the years with his pace and bounce. We wanted to exploit that and give him the first go against left-handers,” Bangar explained.
Umesh’s ability to pitch the ball a bit fuller helped their cause said the former Railways captain. “We always knew about the capabilities of Umesh, he was also aware of the fact that he would come into the attack late,” Bangar pointed out.
Bangar also said that even though India would bat last on the pitch, the decision to play with five batsmen is okay. “Look, if five can’t do the job, then in all likelihood, the sixth will also not be useful,” the assistant coach asserted.
Toilet break bemuses Smith
Australian opener Matt Renshaw Thursday became the talking point after he was forced to take a ‘toilet break’ just when David Warner was dismissed, an act of desperation that certainly didn’t amuse his skipper Steven Smith.
Just when Warner got out, Renshaw was seen talking to skipper Smith , who had just come in and then after speaking to on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough, he was seen rushing out. While some may have had a laugh at the 20-year-old’s expense, he was quite a sport when asked to revisit morning incident. In fact not everyone has to answer more questions on nature’s call than his gritty 68.
“It came pretty suddenly. Maybe five or 10 minutes before Davey (Warner) got out, I asked Richard (umpire Kettleborough) how long there was till lunch and he gave me the answer of half an hour and I was struggling a bit then. It wasn’t an ideal situation to be in,” even if one wanted to grin but couldn’t help but sympathise with the youngster.
So how did skipper Smith react knowing about his problem, Renshaw answered, “He (Smith) wasn’t too thrilled about it but he understood my predicament. If you have to go to the toilet, you have to,” said Renshaw
Border blasts youngster
Sydney: Former captain Allan Border has slammed Matt Renshaw for retiring midway through his innings due to a ‘stomach bug’ and said the young Australian opener had to be ‘half dead’ to be back in the dressing room on day one of the first Test against India. “I hope he’s lying on the table half dead,” Border told ‘Fox Sports’. “As a captain, I would’ve been very unhappy at what he did.”
Agencies