The Indian A team just completed their first practise game of the current Australian tour. It was a 3 day game against Australia A. This was the first of 2 practise games planned before the first test at Adelaide. Unlike the previous tours, the Indian team took this game seriously and played with 11 players. This was a welcome change. However, the performance of most of the regular players was somewhat disappointing.
Some of the regular players like Bumrah, Shami & Agarwal were not part of the squad. With them not playing in the T20 series, it is only logical for them to play in the practise game but that wasn’t to be. However, the other regulars like Pujara, Rahane and Vihari were part of the team. These players have not played the game for a longtime. Except for Rahane, the other 2 weren’t even part of any IPL franchise. So the wait for them was even longer.
Importance of tour games
Tour games like these are not that important from a result perspective but they do provide some valuable match practise. Especially, at this time when sporting events have become rare. These games offer the batsmen to get used to the bounce and carry off the wicket and for the bowlers to bowl the line and length that will be required on these pitches. Pujara, Rahane & to a certain extent Vihari & Saha played lot of deliveries which will improve their confidence ahead of the first test. Saha can be especially pleased in that he actually was able to save the game for India. At one stage India were ahead by only 85 runs in the second innings with more than 40 overs yet to be bowled. It would have been embarrassing for the team as a whole if India had lost the game and that too well inside 3 days.
Gill & Shaw
The biggest worry for the Indian team management will be the twin failures for both Shubnam Gill and Prithvi Shaw. One of these players is expected to be part of the eleven either as an opener with Mayank or once Kohli leaves, in the middle order. Both of them failed miserably. Infact, Gill was out of the very first delivery he faced in the first innings and Shaw followed him a few deliveries later. Shaw has such a poor technique that he is becoming a sitting duck. He has problems against both the moving ball and the bouncing ball.
The moving ball accounted for him in New Zealand and on the available evidence so far, the bouncing ball in the tour game. The way Shaw plays, reminds me of Sadagoppan Ramesh. He was a similar type of player. Ramesh never used to move his feet and just rely on his hands. Shaw is similar.
The poor form of Shaw & Gill
Shaw & Gill are both openers and the Indian team cannot afford to have them in the playing eleven when the other opener, Agarwal, is not that experienced at the international level. Both Shaw & Gill are young and they have time at their disposal. It will be better if both of them are sent back to Ranji trophy and included in all kinds of A team tours to the SENA countries so that they can improve their technique against fast bowling. A stint in English county cricket will also help. Unfortunately, for young Indian players, IPL has become much more important that honing their skills against different bowling attacks.
An opportunity for Rahul
Either of them or one of them will once again get an opportunity in the next couple of days to impress. However, I do feel that Rahul will be back to open the innings in the first test. Rahul who hasn’t proved himself either in Test cricket, will get one more chance to claim a permanent place in the test squad. If Rahul finally manages to fulfil his talent, that will be a great news for the team, however, it is unlikely to happen because as soon as Rahul goes back to opening the innings, he will forget stroke play and will be overcautious. This has happened regularly in the past and there is no evidence that this will not happen in the future.
Indians will also be pleased
The Indian team will be pleased that the Australian first choice opener, Joe Burns and the player who is most likely to open the innings if Warner is ruled out, Will Pucovski, didn’t have a good outing either. Especially, Burns with scores of 4 and 0, the Indian bowlers will be super confident when they are up against him at Adelaide. It was unfortunate that Pucovski got hit on the head and may not be available for the first test. Umesh Yadav gave a good account of himself and is in contention for the Adelaide game as the 3rd seamer. In the absence of Ishant Sharma, Umesh is the 2nd most experienced of the bowlers but the least likely to pick up wickets or keep the batsmen quiet.
A word about the opposition
The opposition as really strong and the Indian management will only have to thank the Australian board for arranging such a strong team. The bowlers that included James Pattinson who might as well go on to play in Adelaide was part of the bowlers with a couple of others who were part of various Australian team in the recent past. The pitch was bouncy as well. This was ideal preparation before the start of the series.
Kohli and Shastri who are not fans of such tour games because they often site the lack of good opposition or good sporting pitches, certainly will not have any complaint in this game. Such was the quality of the opposition. Hopefully, the next tour game, which will be with pink ball, offers the same kind of opposition and an identical pitch so that the likes of Kohli, Agarwal, Bumrah & Shami will get the much required red-ball practise.
Other articles related to the Australian tour can be read here, here, here, here & here.