BGT 2nd Test, Day 1 - Match Report
Khawaja and Handscomb fight, but India prove too good to pushed over.
Australia won yet another toss and chose to bat first on what looked like a typical Ferozeshah Kotla pitch - slow and low. Australia’s line-up was atypical as they picked 3 frontline spinners with just 1 pacer in skipper Pat Cummins. This was a surprising decision considering Scott Boland had bowled well in the 1st test and Australia also had the option of going to Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc.
India’s opening bowlers and the first hour
Mohammed Shami was wayward to start with, conceding byes down the leg side as he tried the around-the-wicket angle to left-handers David Warner and Usman Khawaja. His opening partner Mohammed Siraj was spot on though. In his 6-over spell first up, Siraj bowled really good line and length, using the assistance in the pitch to beat the edge but also using the bouncer wisely to keep both the openers guessing. He was unlucky not to get a wicket in the first hour.
India kept the pressure on David Warner by not allowing him to rotate strike easily. Siraj dived to stop a straight drive off his own bowling to keep Warner on 0. When Shami came back to break the opening stand, Warner had managed just 4 (in-control) scoring shots off his 44 balls. His record in India (and Asia in general) makes it very hard to understand why Australia continues to back him at the age of 36.
Usman Khawaja’s approach
With an average Day 1 score of 277/5 at the Kotla, Australia needed partnerships to set the tone and reduce the dependence on Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. Usman Khawaja did his best to enable this. Like many Australian openers of the past, he loves to play off his back foot. To his credit, Khwaja made the adjustment within Ashwin’s first over and also started showing good intent.
When Ashwin flighted the ball, he didn’t mind going down the track and over long off. He swept the ball on both sides of the wickets as well to compile a solid 50. Despite Warner’s slow progress, Khawaja allowed Australia to put on a 50-run opening stand.
Ashwin’s subtleties
To have a bowler like Ashwin in your line-up has to be a big boost to any captain. To have spin twins of Ashwin and Jadeja’s caliber (particularly on dryer pitches) is almost like having a cheat code in a video game. Not only are they accurate, constantly attacking the stumps, but they also make subtle tweaks to the angles and their release (as KK wrote so beautifully during the last game) to keep the batters guessing.
At 91/1, Labuschagne was starting to settle in. First, to Labuschagne, Ashwin bowled with the seam pointing towards the leg slip. This allowed the ball to turn more than expected and the batter was beaten past his inside edge and out LBW. 2 balls later, he pointed the seam closer to square leg, the ball bounced on the seam and skidded on to take Smith’s outside edge. A session that was Australia’s, for the most part, suddenly became a shared session in the matter of just 3 balls.
Of course, on commentary Mark Waugh brushed this variation as “natural variation”, something that Ashwin did not intend to do. Indian spinners have averaged 21 at home since 2013 compared to the opposition spinners’ 41 in those games. But obviously expecting Australian and English “experts” to appreciate India’s craft is a fool’s errand.
Peter Handscomb
The Victorian was part of Australia’s squad to India back in 2017 and he got a few starts. Between the two tours, Handscomb has only played 4 tests for Australia and scored no fifties in those 7 innings. However, he did have a solid 2022-23 First Class season where he scored 2 100s, and 3 50s in 10 innings including a 281*.
It seems like Handscomb has been picked (ahead of Head in the 1st test) for 2 primary reasons - his ability to play spin and the fact that he is a right-hander. It’s tough to say over just 3 innings, but it appears to be the right punt. Handscomb looked assured on Day 1 and was solid square of the wicket against the pacers. Against the spinners, he played straight and unlike David Warner, played with soft hands as he got to 1000 test runs. Australia should back him to play all 4 test matches on this tour.
Where things stand
Apart from Khawaja, skipper Pat Cummins batted at a fair pace as well. He showed good application to support Handscomb. He also took his chances when the spinners tossed the ball up hitting a couple of sixes over mid-wicket. This meant Australia kept scoring at 3 and a quarter each over despite the loss of wickets. Had this continued, the visitors would have had a solid chance of posting a total of close to 300 and challenging India.
However, Jadeja used subtleties similar to Ashwin's. He varied the pace, allowed a couple of balls to turn to dismiss Cummins and Murphy in the same over and India pulled the game back. At this point, with just 2 wickets to play with, it would have been understandable if Handscomb tried to play more shots and keep the strike. However, he was more than happy to take a single off the 1st ball off the over and let Lyon or even debutant Michael Kuhnemann bat.
With a deficit of 242, the focus tomorrow will be on the man playing his 100th test, Chetestwar Pujara, and his ability to dominate spinners on such surfaces. Of course, the return of Shreyas Iyer is also a much-needed boost to India’s top order which hasn’t been firing on all cylinders. On the 1st day, there were already 3 occasions when 2 wickets fell in quick succession. The pitch is offering turn and when bowlers are accurate, it’s not easy for the new batter. And therefore, India will need to bat well and stitch together partnerships to get a solid lead.