India in Australia: Fun concludes, now the real deal

For Hardik Pandya and T Natarajan it has turned out to be a glorious summer in Australia as they emerged men of character against an opposition that fights hard for every inch on home territory. You win some, lose some, and so it was in the One Day and T20 series as India played some outstanding cricket to make an encouraging start to its cricket assignments Down Under. The 1-2 defeat in the ODI series was compensated by the 2-1 win in T20. The team management could not have asked for a better run up to the four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Hardik celebrated his form to erase the bitter memories of his last visit to Australia in 2018-19 when he had to leave in `disgrace’ for having made some unpleasant comments in a TV interview. He was booed off at Sydney and the same venue saw Hardik being applauded by the spectators, who were a welcome part of the cricket after matches during the pandemic were played without audience in England and South Africa.

The performance by Natarajan was the biggest gain for India. Part of the continent as a `nets’ bowler, Natarajan earned the opportunity when Navdeep Saini suffered an injury after figuring in the first two ODIS. For Saini it was a relief since he had conceded a whopping 153 runs in his two ODI appearances. The lucky break propelled Natarajan into the limelight as the Tamil Nadu leftarm medium-fast almost won the Man of the Series award for the T20 series.

In a splendid gesture, Hardik, the Man of the Series for the T20s, following his aggregate of 78, essentially match impacting performances, shared the honours with the Tamil Nadu bowler.

“Natarajan, you were outstanding this series. To perform brilliantly in difficult conditions on your India debut speaks volumes of your talent and hard work.

You deserve Man of the Series from my side bhai!,” Hardik tweeted and won the hearts of his fans across the world.

David Warner, Finch and Smith exposed the limitations in the Indian camp as the visitors suffered being a bowler short. With Hardik not in a position to bowl the team sorely missed the sixth bowler. The criticism was not really justified because India had not visualised the poor form of Saini, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal, key components of the team’s campaigns in limited overs cricket. True, an all-rounder may have provided the extra element but if there was none available there was no sense in brooding over it.

Hardik’s awesome batting display was India’s biggest gain. An aggregate of 210 mirrored the skilful hitting that marks his batting. Scores of 90, 28 and 92 not out saw Hardik towering at the top of the table. He was certainly denied the MOS honours by an equally imperious performer in Smith, who smashed 216 runs in three innings with knocks of 105 and 104 giving Australia distinct advantage of batting first in the first two encounters.

India earned praise by clinching the third ODI in a close finish and that gave the team the impetus to play to its potential in the T20 competitions. Again, the batsmen served India well with Hardik in glorious form along with skipper Virat Kohli. The concussion substitute rule helped India in the first match when Ravindra Jadeja, hit on the helmet, did not take the field after a 23-ball 44 which turned out to be critical as India recovered from 92 for five in 13.5 overs. India used Chahal as the substitute and the leg-spinner ended up with three wickets and the Man of the Match award.

The Australian coach, Justin Langer, was unhappy with Chahal being allowed as a replacement but then India went by the rule of like for like. Chahal the spinner was replacing Jadeja who would have bowled four overs of spin too.

The issue was best put to rest by former India captain and ICC Cricket Committee head Anil Kumble when he said, ““This rule has been in force for last couple of years after the tragic demise of Phil Hughes. There was a push for a substitute to come in when someone gets hit on the head and concussion is a big thing. I know Jadeja did pull his hamstring after he got hit on the head or before he got hit. Whenever he got hit I don’t think it has got anything to do with replacement. I don’t think it is Jadeja’s call to ask for a physio. It is for the umpires to stop the game and call for a physio. That did not happen perhaps because Jadeja ran for the single and he continued to play. He was fine. And concussion doesn’t necessarily mean it has to happen on the field. You can come back to the dressing room and then you may feel headache or dizziness. That’s when the doctors will step in and stop. That’s what probably happened in this case”.

Kumble’s explained, “Jadeja had done his part of the batting. So, you look at the other skills he brings in. He is a spinner. That’s why a spinner [Chahal] was brought in as like-to-like replacement. If the roles were to be replaced, for example, if he was concussed when on the field when India was bowling and if Jadeja had to bat and couldn’t bat then I am sure Chahal wouldn’t have been like-to-like replacement. You would have looked at a batsman to come in place of Jadeja. I am sure Chahal would have been listed in the 15. I don’t see any issue with the concussion replacement.”

Hardik made a mockery of the Australian target of 195 in the second T20 game. His 42 off 22 balls dealt the blow after being reduced to 149 for four in 16.1 overs. Australia found a winner in leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson, who claimed the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer to leave his mark on the contest. The strokeful 80 by opener Matthew Wade had laid the base for Australia from preventing a clean sweep by India.

As India and Australia gear up for the Test series, beginning with the pink-ball match at Adelaide, the spectators can look forward to some exciting stuff from the two best Test teams in world cricket. India, of course, will miss Kohli after the first Test as he returns home on paternity leave.

Brief scores of the 3 ODIs

First ODI Australia 374/6 (50) India 308/8 (50) Australia won by 66 runs Player of the match Steven Smith Second ODI Australia 389/4 (50) India 338/9 (50) Australia won by 51 runs Player of the match Steven Smith Third ODI India 302/5 (50) Australia 289 (49.3) India won by 13 runs Player of the match Hardik Pandya Australia won the series 2-1 Brief scores of the three T20s: First T20 India 161/7 (20 overs) Australia 150/7 (20 overs) India won by 11 runs Player of the match Yuzvendra Chahal Second T20 Australia 194/5 (20 overs) India 195/4 (19.4 overs) India won by 6 wkts Player of the match Hardik Pandya Third T20 Australia 186/5 (20 overs) India 174/7 (20 overs) Australia won by 12 runs Player of the match Mitchell Swepson Player of the series Hardik Pandya India won the series 2-1

By Vijay Lokpally