If Australian captain, Steven Smith, is made to play all his Test matches against the Indian bowling attack from here on, he would be the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket and probably surpass most batting legends in no time. This is how you can sum up Indian bowling in this series.
However, in the third session of the fourth day’s play, Ravichandran Ashwin did his bit to alter such perceptions of the Indian bowlers. After producing a fighting half-century with the bat, Ashwin’s spell with the new ball rekindled hope in the Indian ranks. He used the conditions smartly, and got a lot of spin and bounce from the Sydney track.
But Smith had other plans. Once again, he came between India and a distant possible win situation to ensure India would never dream of winning a Test match on Australia soil anytime soon. Thanks to some lackluster bowling performance from the Indian pacers, the Australian captain was playing as if it was an ODI game. He reached his fifty in 44 deliveries. And, there was no respite for the Indian pacers.
Strike bowler, Mohammed Shami, who has a technical flaw and could never become an accurate bowler with his current action, conceded 20 runs from three overs. Umesh Yadav, who was more or less decent in the past, gave away 17 runs from one over in his first spell. After ending his second, he doled out 45 runs from three overs that he delivered in the Australian second innings. And this was all happening when the ball was reasonably semi-new and hard.
Earlier, Ashwin took charge of the new ball from one end and there was none from the other end to keep the pressure up on the opposition. Still the Chennai off-spinner did very well to keep the Aussie batsmen guessing and finished with one of the best bowling figures away from home.
When the ball became slightly old, Sami was again brought back into the attack and got a crucial breakthrough by trapping Smith right in front of the wicket. This time, he bowled much fuller and was duly rewarded. The entire demeanour of the team changed. The Indian lower order also contributed to this. They fought back with a vengeance to minimise Australia’s mammoth score to a 97-run lead.
Towards the end of Day Four, Joe Burns showed a rush of adrenaline and took Ashwin & Co. to the cleaners by completing his second fifty of his career in just 33 deliveries. Wicketkeeper batsman Brad Haddin too joined the party. By the time the stumps were drawn, Indian bowlers had taken six wickets but couldn’t go beyond that. In all, Australia were scoring at 6.27 runs per over in their second innings. It was clear that the Aussies were in a mood to offer bait to the Indian batsmen like they did in the first Test match in Adelaide. Hopefully, the hosts won’t delay the declaration on Day Five like they did in Melbourne to ensure a series win. With an overall lead of 348 runs, the Aussies are really in the driver’s seat!
