Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Shami does the trick for India
NEW DELHI: There is no such thing as a chanceless knock in cricket. There are always a few edges or decisions that go your way and luck definitely plays a part too. But at the end of the day, what matters most is what you make of that luck. And what is true for a knock is also true for the innings as a whole.
As Day 1 of the Delhi Test came to an end, Australia should be feeling they didn’t do enough. After electing to bat, they were bowled out for 263. Usman Khawaja (81), Peter Handscomb (72) and Pat Cummins (33) played good hands but none of the other batters got past 18.
It felt like an under-par effort on a wicket that isn’t giving as much assistance to the spinners as Nagpur was. And skipper Cummins would have wanted the Aussie batters, having got a first go, to really get stuck in. But instead, we saw them falter each time they seemed poised to dominate.
At the heart of India’s fine bowling effort were Mohammed Shami (4/60), R Ashwin (3/57) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/68). By close of play, India, in reply, had reached 21/0.
The visitors started off with an opening stand of 50, then followed it up with another stand of 41 but Australia lost wickets in bunches.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith on 91, Khawaja and Alex Carey on 167 and 168 respectively, Cummins and Todd Murphy on 227. It meant that despite scoring runs at a decent rate (Australia scored 94 runs in the first session and 105 in the second), they always seemed to be in a constant state of repair.
Khawaja misses ton
The key wicket, though, was that of Khawaja. The left-hander has been one of Australia’s best bats in recent times (1,362 runs at 71.68 in the last two years) and he scored some big runs in Pakistan too. He didn’t have an impact in the first Test where he scored 1 and 5 but got going today.
He brought out the sweep and the reverse sweeps and there were chancy hits as well. But it was better than just hanging around in the middle, as perhaps David Warner did.
“I play by feel, I play by what I think is right for the wicket when I go out,” said Khawaja in the press conference at close of play. “I don’t go out there looking to play a certain way. I feel what the bowlers are looking to bowl to me and I read it from there.”
And for most of his stay in the middle, the strategy worked. The runs kept coming but it all went wrong when a moment of brilliance in the field by KL Rahul, who flew to his right to take a one-handed catch, ended his stay at the wicket. The wicket came against the run of play but it was a body blow.
Handscomb and Cummins kept things going for a bit but then the end came swiftly.
Shami ended up as the leading wicket-taker and Australia would have taken note of that as well considering that they picked just one specialist paceman in their playing XI for the first time since 2017.
The pacer kept hitting the right lengths and the cracks on the wicket too. The consistency paid off eventually. Just as it did for Ashwin and Jadeja. India’s bowlers, as a group, kept things simple – bowl in the good areas and do it often enough to get the batters to make a mistake.
“Toss is not in our hands,” said Shami at close of play. “All out toh hona hi hai unko (They will eventually get all out). If pacers don’t get wickets, spinwill. ners Someone or the other will do the job.”
He added: “If you bowl a good line and length, there’s bounce on this wicket. The pitch will be on the slower side in India. You have to accept that and see what you can do to make the most of the conditions.”
Australia’s batters were not quite able to truly press home their advantage but one can’t say how good or bad a wicket is until both teams have batted on it. The average total batting first on Day 1 at the Kotla in the last five Tests is 277/5, and by that standard the visilost tors five wickets too many. But at the moment, Khawaja and Australia are still hoping they have done enough.
“We got 260 and you don’t know what is a good score on this track until the other team bats,” said Khawaja. “I have played only once here in Delhi, last time I was the 12th man and in 2012 it was a 200 vs 200 sort of game. I think tomorrow will tell the tale where it is going.”
Shami, on his part, felt the wicket had no real devil and if the batters play carefully on Day 2, India might be able to get a sizeable advantage in the match. Either which way, we are set for an engrossing day of Test cricket.
Khawaja scores a fine 81 and Handscomb hits 72 but the hosts will be the happier side at stumps on Day 1 of the second Test
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MOHAMMED SHAMI,