The yo-yo quality to Team India’s performance is getting a tad frustrating. Brilliant in one match and mediocre in the next – it surely is not the character of a great team. The meek surrender at Adelaide after the 295-run victory on a tough wicket at Perth is befuddling to say the least. What was most troubling was the lack of fight. The pink ball swung more alright, but the team should have been prepared for it. And it swung for both sides, not for the winner only.
It is difficult to decide what hurts more, the defeat or the indifferent show from the veterans in the team. The loss in the Adelaide Test could be compensated with a victory in Brisbane but would it be possible when three top batsmen fail in unison? In fact, the poor performance of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul could be a warning sign for Team India for the rest of the five-match series.
Across both innings, the trio scored 71 runs among them. One of them failing in a match is okay but all going the same way is certainly a problem. That leaves the younger lot in the team to do all the heavy-lifting, and makes winning a difficult proposition against a battle-hardened team like Australia. Nitish Kumar Reddy, all of 21, stood out with his skills and character while Indian batting order crumbled around him. He scored 84 runs in both innings, more than the three combined.
These are the times you cherish the services of ‘dour’ batters like Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid. They fought it out, being aggressive in their own way and obstinately refusing to give in to pressure exerted by bowlers. Batters simply need to play the overs in difficult conditions. At Optus in Perth, India batted 185 overs, here just 81. The difference shows in the result. It is not that Virat, Rohit and Rahul haven’t done it before. But their consistency has been fickle over the last few months, too fickle for comfort.
It began with the home series against New Zealand and continues. Virat scored a total of 93 runs and Rohit 91 in the three Test series, both registering an average below 16. Rahul was disappointing too. Rohit has an average of 13 in the last five Tests. That is worrying. Batters get over slump in form after an interval of bad performances. It has not happened in the case of the trio. Virat scored a hundred in the last match, and it seemed the worst was over. But no.
Senior players are expected to lend solidity to the batting, particularly on foreign wickets because they have the experience and the skills. Both are missing in action. Are age and fatigue catching up? In the last leg of their remarkable careers, both Virat and Rohit appear to be hastening the end. If they don’t perform well in the remainder of the series it could be curtains on their careers. This is certainly not the way we want them to say goodbye to the game.
(By arrangements with Perspective Bytes)
