1st Test - India V Australia @ Pune - Day 1 Review
India Fight Back On Absorbing First Day
Australia has thrown away a strong position against India on a rank turner in an intense start to the four Test Series in Pune. Australia endured another all too familiar middle order and lower order collapse to stagger to stumps on 9/255 on an incredibly dry and cracked Pune surface. Only a late cameo half century from Mitchell Starc got Australia towards 250 after a dramatic collapse in the final session. The ball spat and turned like a Day 5 turner. Australia would have been incredibly relieved to win the toss and bat after losing all three tosses and all three games in their mid-year tour of Sri Lanka. Australia’s top order survived a substantial trial by spin to emerge in a strong positions at 1/119 and 2/149 just 15 minutes before tea, before a crucial double strike as Handscomb and Smith fell without a run being added to the score.
Earlier in the day David Warner and Matt Renshaw had put together a gritty and composed opening stand of 82 before Warner chopped a ball on from Umesh Yadav in the seamer’s very first over just before lunch. India had opened the bowling with Ravinderchan Ashwin in a clear sign they knew this pitch was going to turn from Ball 1. Matt Renshaw rode his luck, but also played a couple of excellent lofted shots using his feet and showing that he is no mug against spin bowling. In a bizarre moment, Renshaw left the ground, assumingly to go to the toilet when David Warner got out, only to be informed by the umpires that he would not be welcomed back and would have to retire hurt. Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh arrived at the crease together and survived until lunch until Marsh was unlucky to be out sweeping off the back of the bat at leg slip. Handscomb looked accomplished before being trapped plum in front, whilst Steve Smith would be kicking himself as he chipped a relatively innocuous ball straight to Virat Kohli at mid wicket when he looked well set. For the hosts Ashwin and Jadeja did the bulk of the bowling with 56 between them. However it was pace bowler Umehh Yadav who proved a surprise taking 4/32 from his 12 overs. Included in that haul were the key wickets of David Warner and Matthew Wade in the limited time he spent at the bowling crease.
Rank Turner Sub-Par But As A Spectator I Like It
The pitch served up in Pune on Day 1 was more like a Day 5 turner and raised suspicions of the ICB having some influence on the local ground staff in what was Pune’s first Test Match. India have already played nine Test matches at home this season, however none of them were as dry and crusty as the rank turner served up here in Pune. Balls turned square right from the get-go here. As balls beat the bat by a considering distance, all the Australian batsmen could do was grin and bear it. The more I think about these sorts of clearly “home ordered” pitches, the more I come around to the idea that the away side should get to choose what they do first. Which would mean doing away with the toss as has been trialled successfully in English County Cricket over the past couple of seasons. As things turned out, Australia won a vital toss here. However, had they lost it, India would have been close to unbeatable given this wicket is going to deteriorate more and be a total dustbowl heading further into the Test match.
Many will call this a shameless request from the Indians to ensure Australia are right under the pump and that Australia should consider returning serve with raging green tops when India visit our shores. Having said all that, as a spectator I don’t mind seeing this type of pitch every now and then as it makes for absorbing cricket, even if it can be a nightmare for batsmen starting their innings. Games that will kill Test Cricket are not necessarily these rank turners, but the featherbeds served up around the world where teams rack up 500+ in the first innings and bowlers become like bowling machines. As the commentators harped on several times, this was a genuine contest between bat and ball with the spinners having a huge advantage. However it is great to see techniques really tested and which players can thrive and adapt their games when the ball is spitting and turning at varying degrees. Part of a spinner's arsenal on these sorts of wickets is not just the turn, it's often the ones that slide on that do the damage. With batsmen wary of the ball going at right angles, they are often very suspect to the one that hurries on and that proved the case in the dismissals of Handscomb and Mitchell Marsh.
Renshaw Leads Australia's Top Order In More Balanced Approach
This was a good performance from Australia’s top order batting line up in their first big acid Test, without capitalising on a great start. I said pre-Test I would have left Renshaw out of the team and Australia’s two most senior players in Warner and Smith will be kicking themselves for the shots they got out on, especially after they had done all the hard work. Make no mistake, this First Day wicket in Pune was just as tough, if not tougher, than any surface they faced whilst in Sri Lanka where they were whitewashed. While Australia looked to attack at all costs against the Sri Lankans, their approach appeared far less frenetic and with much more method here in Pune. This was more attritional type of batting, mixed in with dispatching the ball, which is far more effective and sustainable on these sort of wickets.
While the likes of Renshaw, Warner, Smith and Handscomb did look to use their feet and put pressure on the Indian spinners, it wasn’t all about “taking them down” and “attacking at every opportunity” which is something we have heard from Australian teams in the past. Instead they defended stoutly and kept to a relatively simple game plan of trying to hit with the spin and attack the loose ball. The likes of Ashwin probably were not quite near their best on Day 1, serving up some full tosses and half trackers rarely seen in the recent 4-0 victory over England. However, you have to give credit to Australia for finally showing a bit of character and grit and playing within themselves, rather than sticking their chests out and saying “we’re going to attack at all costs and play the Australian way”. That has been the bullish mantra in the past and, even though it is very early in the piece, it appears lessons have been learnt and this side may be far more competitive than people think if their batsmen maintain this measured approach. While a score of around 250+ is not going to be anywhere near enough, you feel, to beat India, it was still a much improved effort on a very difficult wicket.