Pacemen key to first win in Aussie
India become first Asian side to clinch test series in Australia after 70 years of trying
India, who first toured Australia in 1947-48, had never won a test cricket series there. They have now, and by winning 2-1 have made up for their 4-1 defeat in England in the last Northern Hemisphere summer and reaffirmed their position at No 1 in the test rankings.
India had never won a series in Australia because their pace bowling had always been underpowered. This southern summer, spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, it has been extraordinary, more than matching Australia’s vaunted trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins because the Indian pace bowlers have generated more lateral movement.
“It has to be right on the top of the pile [of my achievements],” said India captain Virat Kohli.
“When we won the World Cup in 2011, I was the youngest member of the side. I saw people around me getting emotional, but I didn’t feel what they felt.
“Having been to this country for the third time and to understand what we’ve achieved here has never been done before, we can be proud of it. This win will give us a different identity as an Indian team and can inspire kids to do the same for the country.”
Another difference between India’s defeat in England and triumph in Australia has been the spin support received by Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.
Ravichandran Ashwin, after the first test at Edgbaston, did little in England, his action impeded by injury. In Australia, after Ashwin had contributed to India’s win in the opening test in Adelaide and been injured, he was replaced by equally effective spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. Against this world-class Indian bowling, Australia’s batting had no answer.
In the fourth test in Sydney, Australia were made to follow on for the first time at home since 1988.
Back then, they at least had Allan Border to show the novices how to go about the business of batting all day. In this series, in the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith, the highest individual innings for Australia was 79.
India’s cupboard, on the other hand, is ever more stocked. Mayank Agarwal, introduced for the last two tests, appears to tick all an opening batsman’s boxes, while Rishabh Pant is maturing into a world-class keeperbatsman, possibly a long-term rival to Adam Gilchrist as the best.
He not only averaged 58, he can disrupt the opposition’s rhythm with outrageous shots. Pant’s counterpart, Tim Paine, averaged 24, and nothing sums up the state of Australian batting in that their captain, 34, has just one first-class century.
Above all, India had the player of the series in Cheteshwar Pujara: not only three centuries and 521 runs, but 1258 balls faced, which is almost 210 overs.
Thus did India become the first Asian side to win a test series in Australia.