Looks like Australia has lost its swagger

THE unspoken sledges — the ones delivered by actions, not words — are often the most savage of all.

When India’s batsmen went crazy just after lunch yesterday as their lead zoomed past 300, there were plenty of us in the press box who felt they had lost their heads chasing the scent of a rare offshore victory in Australia.

After all, it was 300, not 400, and there were almost five sessions left. But India saw it differently. They sensed they already had roughly enough against a modest Australian batting line-up and were hurrying things up so they could have maximum overs to get Australia out. That frantic hour, when Rishabh Pant took 18 off a Nathan Lyon over before India lost 5-25, looked like India’s lid popping off its saucepan.

But it was actually an unspoken message to Australia that the last bastion of its domination left standing after the ball-tampering affair had all but vanished.

The hometown halo. The fortress. The intimidating aura that used to stretch from Perth to Brisbane and that feeling that when you play Australia in Australia, enough is never enough.

Maybe today Australia will pull off one of its most notable Test match run chases, but if not, India will be thankful it was so bold even though the batsmen looked so reckless.

Remember the great old days when Australian teams on home soil only had to say “boo’’ and you would hear opposition knees knocking.

These days Australian teams are not allowed to say boo but, even if they were, knees would not tremble.

The word’s out. Australia lacks the scare factor, even in its own backyard.

The collective swagger has been replaced by a certain stiffness, embodied yesterday by Aaron Finch. For Finch not to review a catch when it seemed to miss his glove was a move that merely summed up Australia’s insecurity.