NEW DELHI: Former cricketer Madan Lal attributed India’s crushing 10-wicket loss to Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy primarily to the poor performance of India’s leading batters.
The Adelaide venue witnessed one of Indian cricket’s most devastating moments four years prior, when the team crumbled to 36 all out in their second innings against Australia in a pink-ball match.
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Moving to 2024, while the recent 10-wicket defeat wasn’t as catastrophic as the 2020 collapse, it similarly highlighted the Indian batting line-up’s vulnerability against Australia’s fierce pace attack.
India, having won the toss and elected to bat, struggled to reach 200 runs in either innings. Notable players including Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and captain Rohit Sharma surrendered their wickets easily to bowlers like Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
Lal offered his assessment of how India’s established batting talents underperformed in the day-night Test format, a version of the game where the Asian Giants continue to show inexperience.
“We have a very good team. It is not like that scoring 175 or 180 makes our team weak. The conditions of the match played with the pink ball were very difficult. Maybe the reason is we are not used to the pink ball,” Madan Lal told ANI.
Reflecting on the Adelaide Test, which concluded in just over two days, the Indian batters struggled primarily against the old ball rather than the new one.
The Australian pace trio of Starc, Cummins and Scott Boland proved lethal with the aged ball, claiming 14 wickets while conceding only 159 runs.
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In contrast, the Indian bowlers managed a mere four wickets with the old ball and leaked runs at an alarming 4.27 runs per over. Despite the visitors’ batting collapse, Travis Head demonstrated remarkable ease at the crease, smashing a brilliant 140 runs.
“The main reason for losing the Test match is that our top batters didn’t score runs. We should have scored 300 runs, and that is the biggest reason. The second is Travis Head, who played brilliantly and scored 140 runs. He completely turned around the game because, on that wicket, 100 or 150-plus run lead is a lot,” Lal added.
With the series evenly poised at 1-1, the teams now head to Brisbane for a crucial showdown at the Gabba.
