Robert Craddock: India’s cunning plan reminiscent of history-making Australian Test side of 2004
More than 16 years after one of Australia’s best victories, the key tactic perfected by Adam Gilchrist’s side has willed India back into the current Test series.
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Everything old is suddenly new again with India striking gold by reprising a cunning plan which Australia once used for its most famous victory on Indian soil.
The sight of Indian bowlers plugging gaps on the leg side and bowling straight at the stumps will, perversely, revive some pleasant memories for the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, who were part of Australia’s only series win in India in 50 years in 2004.
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Steve Smith and company are being subjected to a “death by suffocation’’ plan similar to the one that enabled Australia’s bowlers to subdue Indian batting icons Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly with the illustrious trio averaging between 17 and 27 in that 2004 series.
Gilchrist, deputising for injured Ricky Ponting as captain, consulted an Indian player called Vasoo before the 2004 series, who said Australia had traditionally bowled too wide of off-stump, chasing edges in the customary Australian way.
The result was too many balls got dispatched to the off-side fence and when Australia adjusted to a straighter line, they were smacked through generally unprotected areas of the leg side.
So Australia took a deep breath and bowled straighter – directly to India’s strengths – and the result was Australia’s only series win in India since 1969.
Australia stacked the leg-side and India’s once free-flowing top-order became tied down and frustrated as their dynamic leg-side strokes were hit straight to fieldsmen.
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Now it’s Australia feeling the grip of this plan with Smith and company being frustrated to the point where the star batsman has scored just nine off 69 balls in two Tests.
Marnus Labuschagne said during the Boxing Day Test, he could feel the imprint of India’s research.
“I think with the modern game, something that we’re realising very quickly is people are coming up with new ways of thinking about the game slightly differently,” Labuschagne said.
“They came in with a heavy leg-side field and bowled very straight, didn’t give us any real scoring options to get off strike.”
Gilchrist remembers the 2004 success as his career highlight partially because of the satisfaction of having meticulously-laid plans come off.
“It was just years and years of planning and learning through the disappointments of previous experience and being prepared to flip completely the traditional game plan we had always gone from,’’ Gilchrist said.
“We were prepared to take that approach and turn a tour of India on its head.’’
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