Nearly three years ago, Australia’s Steven Smith was new in the IPL set-up and wasn’t a playing member of his team in a league match. He was probably the 12th or 13th man in the squad, but he was as busy and alert as the rest of the 11 players on the field. He went about his business very professionally. He served water to his teammates and ensured no one was in any discomfort. That time his then IPL mates, and a few others, had discussed how he would lead Australia one day. Their predictions have indeed come true and Smith is here to stay as the Australian captain.
Right now, there is no stopping Smith and who knows it better than the Indian bowlers. With an overnight score of 72, Smith went on to complete his century and eventually ended the year on a high note. He made a very significant score of 192, and completed 2,000 runs in Test cricket. This was also his third century in three successive matches, thus far in the test-series. It was his second century as the Australian skipper. This obviously makes Smith the main contender for the man-of-the-series award. From here on, his morale will get a further boost if Australia win the Test match and series in Melbourne before the last tie in Sydney.
For that to happen, the Aussies are right on course. After two days of play, India trail by 422 runs with nine wickets remaining in the first innings. And the fact that the Indian batsmen would have a Himalayan task on Day 3, is largely because of their bowling department. Nothing seems to have changed since the last two Test matches. The bowlers continue to concede runs without the hunger required to dismiss the Aussies. Like previous Test matches, Indian bowlers showed early promise, but ran out of steam later. They were caught between the pressure of taking wickets and stopping the free flow of runs from the Australian bat. In the end, wickets came only when the Aussies made mistakes. Even an out-of-form Brad Haddin could score 55. It added more woes to the problem when Ryan Harris batted like Mitchell Johnson did in the Brisbane Test.
It’s a horrifying tale. No matter how good you are with the bat, if the bowlers aren’t good enough to take those twenty wickets, it’s like endless suffering. There is no bowler in the team who could match the class of Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan and this team continues to miss them. You need a bowler who can take five wickets regularly and India is majorly lacking in this area. Does this bowling attack lack experience? Ishant Sharma is playing his third series in Australian and he still shows no signs of knowing how to bowl in Australia. Off-spinner R Ashwin was the pick among the bowlers, but he didn’t get enough support from the other end.
The faulty technique of pitching short continues to be a style statement of the Indian bowlers. A few of the shots Smith and other Australian played were cross-batted – as if they were playing gully cricket with a tennis ball. They were in complete control. India would be hoping to offer the same treatment to the Aussies bowlers. But whatever is the outcome on Day Three, it would be tough to beat Australia after a first innings score of 530. Thanks to Smith again!
