Australia vs India Test Day 2: Australia on the ropes after horror top order batting display
Selectors turned down Tim Paine’s courageous offer to open the batting and it might cost the hosts the ultimate prize.
Australia’s unbeaten day-night Test record goes on the line on Saturday after India brutally tore apart their rusty and patched-up top order.
Selectors may have turned down Tim Paine’s courageous offer to open the batting, but he stood up anyway with a superb captain’s knock which was the only saviour following a woeful collapse from the men above him.
Makeshift openers Joe Burns and Matthew Wade failed to deliver the protection Australia craved for their prized middle-order, as Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Ashwin helped engineer India a commanding 62-run lead, with nine wickets in hand.
Selectors may be forced into an immediate review of how the team sets up for the next Test after they were exposed in a way Australia’s pink-ball specialists never have been before in seven previous matches where they have never lost.
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Only a brilliant, fighting 73 not out from Paine, perhaps his finest in Test cricket, saved Australia from complete turmoil and selectors may have wished they hadn’t turned down the Tasmanian’s bold suggestion that he open in the Test.
Australia was skittled for a miserable 191 – their lowest ever first innings total in pink ball Test cricket – but Pat Cummins got a big wicket back in a half an hour assault at the close to leave India 1-9 at stumps on day two.
Paine put on a crucial 80 runs with the tail and now averages 33.4 in Test cricket, taking him past Brad Haddin to be second only behind Adam Gilchrist in the list of highest batting averages for Australian wicketkeepers.
The skipper could have capped off his day with a classic diving grab at the death, but couldn’t quite hold onto a chance from Mayank Agarwal (5 not out) off Mitchell Starc.
“It certainly wasn’t our best performance. You’ve got to give India credit, they bowled well and put us under pressure and we couldn’t get any momentum or partnerships together,” Paine said.
“We couldn’t quite do that today. The top order has done a terrific job for a fair while now and I’m backing them in. They’ll come good.
“I think the quality of the fast bowling is exceptional. The pink ball is another factor. I don’t think pink balls are usually fast scoring. And it’s made even harder in this game by five or six quality fast bowlers who don’t miss much.
“I’m just happy to contribute with the tail and get us closer to the Indian total … if I’d opened I might have got a few more,” he joked.
“I’m happy to stay at seven as well and build a few partnerships down there … that’s what it will be.”
David Warner can’t come back soon enough for Australia, but the sobering reality is that’s highly unlikely to be next week at the MCG for Boxing Day.
The Burns and Wade experiment failed at the first hurdle, while Steve Smith’s less than ideal preparation for the first Test saw him suffocated into submission by India’s bowlers.
Both Burns and Wade scored eight runs, though their impact was slightly higher than their modest totals suggest, because between them they absorbed 92 balls of world-class fast bowling.
But the contrast between their careful approach, and the thunderous starts which are Warner’s trademark was conspicuous and it was only Marnus Labuschagne (47) and Tim Paine (73 not out) who showed the positive intent that was required to put India under any heat.
Wade and Burns started with four maidens, desperate to leave dangerous deliveries and stay out of harm’s way.
But they were unable to move the scoreboard and put pressure back on India, as both were trapped lbw by India’s quirky wicket-taking genius Bumrah and they will need to find another gear to keep Australia’s head above water this series and are under huge pressure.
It’s hard to criticise selectors given moving a batsman up the order was their only way of getting Cameron Green a Test debut – but Travis Head’s meek dismissal at No.5 has also put him under the gun when Warner does eventually prove his fitness.
Smith was hampered by a back injury in the lead-up to the Test, but perhaps an even greater hurdle was the fact he has not played a single first-class match since the Sydney Test last January.
Even for an all-time great, Smith struggled to find his rhythm and fell victim to a rampant Indian spinner Ashwin who claimed 4-55 to rip the heart out of Australia after the tourists posted 244 runs batting first.
Ashwin did his best Usain Bolt impersonation as he sprinted to the outfield to celebrate Smith’s wicket after the Australian edged him to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip.
Head became Ashwin’s next victim – with a limp bunt back to the bowler to exit for just 7 which left Australia in major strife at 4-65.
Labuschagne stood tall for Australia through the carnage, although his own survival at the crease was only made possible by some ham-fisted fielding from India who put him down no less than three times.
The Queensland run-machine should have been caught on the boundary by Bumrah, but the fast bowler – who had been so lethal with the ball – completely misjudged how much room he had between him and the rope and made a complete meal of it.
Labuschagne also edged behind under the diving gloves of keeper Wriddhiman Saha, and skied one to rookie Prithvi Shaw in the infield only for him to lose it in the sun and put down what should have been a simple take.
Recap the action in our live blog below.
Originally published as Australia vs India Test Day 2: Australia on the ropes after horror top order batting display
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