Bound to have a bad day: Kumble

We seemed to lose the bearing after Rahul’s dismissal, says the India coach

Down for the count: K.L. Rahul injured his left shoulder, playing an audacious shot that cost his wicket.

The Law of Averages evens out the events of the past. The Murphy’s Law ensures if anything has to go wrong, it will. When both these collide on a sporting field, it results in a kind of position India found itself in after the second day’s play of the opening Test against Australia: hoping against hope for a dramatic turnaround.

“You are bound to have a bad day. This pitch was certainly challenging, so we needed a lot more restraint and showed that if you put your head down, you could make those runs.

“It was unfortunate that once (K.L.) Rahul got out, we seemed to lose the bearing,” said Anil Kumble, India’s head coach.

“We dropped a few catches. It has hurt us in the past; especially in this game, you need to hold your chances even if [they are] half chances.

“We dropped Steve Smith on couple of occasions, that has certainly pushed us back. Hopefully, tomorrow morning, we can pick up a few early wickets and then put the pressure back on them.”

Shift of balance

Rahul’s reckless shot off Steve O’Keefe shifted the balance of the game in Australia’s favour.

Besides, it also injured the batsman’s left shoulder, adding misery to the opener who had overcome his dehydration issues during a scintillating innings of 64.

When asked if an earlier injury was the cause for Rahul playing the audacious shot, Kumble smiled and said, “I don’t think so. I think the shot created the injury not just to him but even to the team.

“He should be okay tomorrow morning,” he said.

Kumble declined to blame the turning strip for the collapse.

“It is a challenging surface which requires application, aggression and a bit of caution as well.

“You need a mix out of that. And today was not our day,” he said.

“We have to give credit to the Australian bowlers as well. It was one of those days when you go back and start, ‘Okay, how do we come back and pick those six wickets?’”