Australia Gain Ascendancy On Second Day Of Second Test

Sunday was another day when Australia wrested the honours as Indian bowlers and fielders failed to make an impact and gain ascendancy in the second Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here in Bangalore.

After their batsmen succumbed for 189 on the opening day on Saturday, Indian bowlers failed to make up for their colleagues’ shortcomings on Sunday even as fielders did little to help the team’s cause as Australia grabbed a crucial 48 runs lead. They still have four wickets in hand – and a big advantage, overall.

At close, Australia, who are 1-0 up in the four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, were 237 for six wickets in 106 overs, in reply to India’s highly inadequate 189 all out in 71.2 overs. The day’s top scorer was Shaun Marsh with 66 (197 balls, 4x4s) while opener Matt Renshaw made a sedate 60 (196 balls, 5x4s, 1x6s). Marsh was recalled for this tour at age 33.

India find themselves in this situation after their bowlers could not take advantage of home conditions and fielders did not convert half chances into catches to put pressure on the visitors. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the most effective Indian bowler with three wickets for 49 runs in 17 overs.

Had the fielders been more supportive of the bowlers India would have been in a slightly better position, and perhaps given the determined Australia a tough fight for the first-innings lead.

If Ajinkya Rahane, who is also struggling with the bat too, dropped David Warner off Ishant Sharma on Saturday when the batsman was on nine, on Sunday a diving wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha dropped Mitchell Starc off tireless fast bowler Umesh Yadav before he had not yet opened his account. It was only the third ball after Yadav had dismissed Marsh. Had the catch been taken, the situation could have been different. Starc is still batting on 14, along with wicket-keeper Matthew Wade (25, 68 balls, 2x4s).

The pitch here has so far not gone the Pune way, but it has started to assist spinners. On the third day on Monday, it might further break and assist the spinners. Crucially, Australia will have to bat fourth in this match.

Although the Indians can be given some discount considering that they have had a long home season, comprising 13 Tests, eight One-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals, that argument cannot be extended for every poor day in the field. After all, they are professional cricketers and they have to take the packed itinerary in their stride and put their best foot forward day in and day out.

Credit is due to Steven Smith’s team that first surprised everyone by winning the first Test in Pune and has now grabbed the honours on the first two days in Bangalore.

On most occasions, the third day’s play clearly indicates which team is in control. So, on Monday the Australians would look to consolidate the lead and ensure that India was out of the equation in terms of winning the series.

On the other hand, Indian bowlers would try and limit the damage and if they don’t then Virat Kohli’s team would soon find its back against the wall in the five-day match.

On Sunday, in front of a sizeable crowd, the Indian spinners occasionally spun the ball significantly. One such ball early in the day was bowled by R. Ashwin, who spun it sharply from the bowlers’ rough area to dismiss left-handed David Warner – the eighth time the Aussie had become the victim of the off-spinner.

However, on most times the desired end-result eluded.

Another area in which India got it all wrong was the Decision Review System. India called for the review on three occasions on Sunday and the third umpire struck down all. On the other hand, Shaun Marsh was given out by the umpire when he was on 44, but he called for a successful review and went on to score 22 more runs.

As they say, hope floats. For India, though, time is fast running out and they will have to turn it around on Monday to translate that hope into reality.