Australia suffered an embarrassing defeat by an innings and 132 runs in the opening Border-Gavaskar Test against India at VCA Stadium, Nagpur on Saturday (February 11).
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja ran through the Australian batting line-up in the first innings, picking a five-wicket haul (5-47) to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 177.
After India took a massive first-innings lead of 223 runs, it was R Ashwin’s turn to demolish the Aussies with the ball. The veteran off-spinner returned with the figures of 5 for 37 in his 12 overs as the hosts bowl out the tourists for a mere 91 to wrap the match inside three days.
Speaking after the game, Australia skipper Pat Cummins said his team was neither “brave” nor “proactive” in their thought process which led to a massive defeat in the first Test.
Asked what went wrong for his team, Cummins said: “Hard to know. That will be the review the next few days. I think everyone came with pretty clear plans.”
“The challenge is under the furnace to be brave enough to be proactive at the time. That will be the conversations over the next couple of days. We faced some pretty tough bowlers at times,” the Australian captain stated at the post-match media conference.
Citing the attacking approach of Steve Smith and Alex Carey, Cummins acknowledged that his team’s defensive game won’t take them anywhere on Indian pitches.
“You saw (Steve) Smithy and Alex Carey at times put the pressure back on the bowlers. I think it takes a bit of bravery, it’s easier said than done. If you’re just facing ball after ball and the bowler’s pretty good you’re going to get one with your name on it. Again, that will be the conversation this week,” he said.
Australia’s second innings folded in the session between lunch and tea on Day 3 and Cummins did not provide a satisfactory explanation about it.
“Playing in India, the game really speeds up. It’s a good thing if you are on top. But if you are behind, it can be really challenging. I thought all their bowlers bowled really well. They really put the pressure on us and next time we’ve got to find a way to manage that,” he said.
“A lot of it was good bowling. Two masters of their craft, fresh legs, they bowled really well. In saying that I don’t think much is going to change the next couple of games. That’s what we’re going to come against so we have to find better methods.”
While Cummins admitted that something needs to be done to his team, he was against anything radical.
“We’ve had a really good run the last 12 months. There hasn’t been many losses in that change room. I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel, it’s just tweaking different approaches as to how we play and maybe particular methods,” he remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)
