Australia lost nine wickets in the morning session on Day 3 in Delhi.
India’s experienced spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin have taken 31 of Australia’s 40 wickets as the visitors’ four innings have folded for 177, 91, 263 and 113 across the two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi.
In particular, Australian players’ shot selection came under the scanner in Delhi. They lost Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins and Matthew Kuhnemann to sweep and reverse-sweep shots in the second innings.
Writing for Hindustan Times, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar reflected on Australia’s dismal show in Delhi, saying that opener Usman Khawaja’s success with sweep shots in the first innings was why the tourists failed in the second essay.
"Khawaja played all the sweeps there are in the modern game and succeeded. He got 81 in the first innings after scores of 1 and 5 in Nagpur. That success of Khawaja actually was the main reason for Australia’s batting failure in the second innings,” wrote Manjrekar.
“Each Australian batter after that came in with a mindset to attack and that too with the sweep shot; ‘sweep to succeed’ seemed to be their motto,” he added.
Manjrekar said it was painful to see Steve Smith getting out while trying a sweep shot in Australia’s second innings in Delhi.
"It was painful to see Smith try the sweep and get out in the second innings. This is a batter who got one of the greatest hundreds seen on Indian soil from a foreign batter in Pune in 2017, a Test that Australia won,” he wrote.
According to Sanjay Manjrekar, Smith, Marnus Lanuschgane and Peter Handscomb are good enough batters to play their natural game and succeed in India.
"If Smith and Labuschagne had not bought into the overall team tactics, I have no doubt they would have made this win for India far more hard earned. I believe Peter Handscomb, Smith and Labuschagne are good enough batters to play their natural game and make valuable contributions to their side. All the three judge the length of spinners really well and are secure in defence,” he stated.
Having suffered defeats in Nagpur and Delhi, Australia have already conceded an unbeatable 2-0 lead to India in the four-match series.
Indore and Ahmedabad are scheduled to host the third and fourth Tests from March 1 and March 9, respectively.