 "India won the Perth Test against Australia by a record margin when no one gave them a chance. Image: AP")
When India’s cricketers left Mumbai for Perth in two batches nearly a fortnight back, their loyal legion of fans feared the worst, and not without good reason. In familiar conditions at home, with a full-strength squad, they had wiped the floor against New Zealand, routed 3-0 for the first time in their own backyard .
How would their batters square up against Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, pedigreed and proven performers who are deadly dangerous anywhere but positively lethal in their own backyard?
How would their inexperienced pace bowling unit find a way through and past Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Indophile Travis Head?
Doomsday pundits predicted a 0-5 humiliation, especially once it was announced that Rohit Sharma would miss the first Test due to personal reasons .
The start of India’s tour went from bad to worse within a few days of their arrival. Virat Kohli was the first to sustain an injury at nets, after which KL Rahul was struck on his elbow by Prasidh Krishna . The killer blow came in a match simulation exercise between the Indians and India ‘A’ when Shubman Gill broke his left thumb while fielding in the slips and was ruled out of the opening skirmish. No regular opener, no in-form No. 3. Hmmm…
Skipping warm-up proves masterstroke
The match simulation concept itself had come in for much flak from former cricketers, who believed that the Indians would be better off actually playing a warm-up game so that first-timers to Australia, of whom there are many, would get a feel of the conditions in a match scenario. The Indian think-tank thought otherwise, arguing that in simulation drills, they could control the narrative and therefore could accrue benefits that an actual match might deny them.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe fact that not a word has been uttered in the last 36 hours about the lack of ‘match practice’ heading into the Optus Stadium Test is indication enough of the concession that the team management got it right. The value of any decision is dictated by the eventual outcome, so it now appears a masterstroke by the leadership group to swap game time for match simulation.
Why? Because against all expectations, if not odds, India are sitting on a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series following one of their most domineering performances outside the Asian sub-continent. Anyone outside the Indian dressing room who says they saw it coming might not necessarily be speaking the truth because let’s face it, India’s chances of putting it past formidable Australia were rated minimal to non-existent by a vast majority.
What’s the secret to Team India’s turnaround?
So, how did this turnaround transpire? What magic wand did Jasprit Bumrah and Gautam Gambhir discover and wave with a flourish to turn a bunch of inexperienced hands into unrelenting predators bearing down on the unsuspecting Australians with unfettered aggression? What was the magic potion the 11 guys on the park partook of that transformed them into a band of match-winning brothers who had each other’s backs and who positively relished his mate’s success? What was the secret?
Sorry to disappoint, but there is no secret. Just smart and focused practice, fierce determination, immense self-belief, the unwillingness to take a backward step, and a genius with the ball who also revelled in the leadership role. Of course, an undercooked, hesitant and out-of-form opposition group didn’t hurt, either.
India’s largest victory by runs in Australia, by the princely margin of 295 runs, was a personal triumph for Bumrah, standing in as captain for Rohit. Bumrah doesn’t have a great deal of experience of leading a side, any side, and his first outing in that role, in Birmingham against England in June 2022, was an unmitigated disaster. But this time, he appeared more prepared, more ready for the challenge, more energised by the responsibility, more driven by the prospect of leading his men out to battle.
On the field, he received generous and selfless help from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant but eventually, he made the calls because he knew the buck stopped with him. When in the middle of his bowling spells, and each of them was an event, a thrilling spectacle with the promise of drama written over every ball, he allowed Kohli to set fields and orchestrate the pieces on the chess board, but otherwise, he was on top of the game awareness stakes, feeding off the privilege of being able to call the shots and getting his colleagues to lift themselves.
India’s belief showcased itself in the changing room immediately after they were bowled out for 150 on the first afternoon. Bumrah admitted later that no one in the team was ‘down’ . There was a sense of purpose as they raced to the ground after tea at the start of Australia’s reply, and a sense of urgency and channeled gluttony when Bumrah struck one blow after another with the new ball. There was patience and commonsense, a clear understanding of what lengths to bowl on a surface alien to debutants Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, and an almost uncanny awareness of what to do to precipitate an Australian collapse.
This was Australia’s first Test since early March. Smith and Labuschagne haven’t had much Test success in recent times, there was a new opener in first-timer Nathan McSweeney. Australia might not have appeared so, but they were ripe for the taking. India took them – to the cleaners, at little cost. Bumrah was the obvious star with his five-for but Mohammed Siraj and Rana weighed in. Handsomely.
The 46-run lead was a bonus but plenty of work remained on a track that eased out somewhat as the game went deep. India needed to begin their second innings well, and who better to do that than Yashasvi Jaiswal, the new kid on the block, and Rahul, whose yo-yoing Test career thrust him to the opener’s slot, again, on a temporary basis. In a spectacular exhibition of leaving the ball, the two drove Australia to desperation. Their 201-run alliance was built around old-fashioned Test match batting , something that is rapidly going out of commission. New-age India went back in time to fashion their reversal in fortunes. To the cricket romantic, in that irony lies the charm of the sport.
The Jaiswal-Rahul show was the most decisive act in settling the destination of his contest. From there on, there was only one winner. In another ominous sign for the Aussies, Kohli made his first Test hundred in 16 months and Bumrah topped up his first-innings heroics with a three-wicket haul. They say in these parts that he now resides in the misfiring Labuschagne’s head. Swap Labuschagne with any Australian name, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
This was Murphy’s Law in reverse – everything that could go right for India, did. Not through fortune and luck and the rub of the green but owing to their own skills and ability. To keep up this level of professionalism and clinical execution won’t be easy, but Rohit has a benchmark to emulate, an example to follow, and a template to embrace and improve with his own quirks and smarts. This Indian team, it so thrives in adversity. To build on rare front-running overseas won’t be unwelcome, right?