Team India took a big step towards sealing their spot in the finals of WTC after winning over Australia in the second IND vs AUS test in Delhi with a tough fight of a six-wicket win.
Once again, Ravindra Jadeja, with his exceptional performance, walked away with the Player of the Match award after picking up ten wickets. Australia had a chance to win until the third morning; however, Jadeja, with his excellent balling skills, took away their opportunity to help the hosts take the ascendancy.
Rohit Sharma will be happy with their lead in the series, but even they know the improvements they must make. Here are the two mistakes and one masterstroke made by Team India.
#1 Mistake: India’s batters weren’t aggressive enough in the first innings
We all know that in the first innings, India rebounded because of Axar-Ashwin’s rearguard, but before that, batters weren’t aggressive in the game. Lyon, Murphy and Kunhemann got the chance to settle into their rhythm, with India losing their top six batters and with a disappointing performance of scoring ten fours and a single six.
With a total score of 115 on Day 3 of IND vs AUS 2nd Test, Rohit Sharma, with his aggression and outstanding performance, followed by Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli with the same. But it should’ve happened on day two instead of Day 3. But they were busy playing defensive against the Aussie spin trio and eventually suffered.
#2 Mistake- India isn’t using Axar Patel’s bowling enough
India has won two test matches against Australia with little involvement from Axar. However, after making the left-arm spinner roll his arm very often, it might benefit the Men in Blue.
In the second Test match, Axar bowled 12 overs in the first inning, where he could not take a single wicket, and he saw his role reduced even more in the second essay.
Considering Axar Patel’s previous excellent performances, where he picked 40 wickets in 8 home tests at an average of 13.88, we can imagine how wonderful a player he is. India should use his abilities to replicate those performances in the future. He should be introduced earlier rather than the fifth stop-gap bowler so that he can repeat Jadeja’s incredible performance.
#1 Masterstroke- India shuffled their batters around smartly
In the first inning, India had to counter Australia’s spin threat, Nathan Lyon. Nathan Lyon was the star of the first test and was running through the top order, with young Todd Murphy accompanying him. And they sure made it tough for India. But India made a Masterstroke.
They made a few good changes in the batting order. They pushed Ravindra Jadeja one step down the order and sent Shreyas Iyer at NO.5 to face the Senior-off spinner. After the fall of Virat’s Wicket, with a score of 135/6, they decided to maintain a left-right order in the middle, and Mathew Kuhneman was in the middle of the spell.
After that, Axar Patel was sent to accompany Ravichandran Ashwin, and he was the perfect masterstroke India has done in sending him. Axar, with his superb performance, hit nine fours and three sixes, putting together 114, with the company of Ashwin to take the hosts close to the first innings total.