There was a leg-slip in place for the Indian pacemen in the opening session of the first morning.
This, actually, seemed an invitation for the bowlers to operate down the wrong channel – on or outside leg. And from a side and a new captain who had vowed to play with aggression, this was negative cricket.
The Indian tactics, once again, were bizarre even as Australia raced to a commanding 348 for two on the first day of the fourth Test in the Border-Gavaskar series at the SCG on Tuesday.
There was one more hundred from David Warner while his opening partner Chris Rogers missed his century by five runs. Skipper Steven Smith reaffirmed his form with a classy unbeaten 82 and Shane Watson came up with a possibly career-reviving knock (61 batting).
The surface favoured batsmen yet the bowling was disappointing. It’s fashionable these days to blame the pitch if wickets prove elusive. What about checking the flow of runs, creating the pressure and working your way through the line-up?
Good teams do this with persistence and accuracy. India just hasn’t done that. Control was the casualty and the Indian pacers pitched on both sides of the pitch. These were easy pickings for the Aussies.
Porous catching
India’s slip catching has been rather porous and K.L. Rahul fluffed a sitter at second slip when Rogers, on 19, was surprised by a delivery of extra bounce from Mohammed Shami.
And R. Ashwin, in the day’s last over, could not latch on to a chance when Watson (on 57) edged a Yadav delivery that lifted and left him. India had claimed the second new ball.
Australia thrived. Openers Warner and Rogers, feeding off each other, put on 200 runs in 44.5 overs after Australia had called right.
The left-handed Warner has this ability to pick the length quicker than many batsmen and often gets into the right position in a jiffy.
And he dismisses the ball with powerful forearms and wrists. His strokes, both in front and square of the pitch went screaming to the fence.
It must be said all the Indian pacemen, Bhuvneshwar, Shami and Yadav, gave him the length, width and the room to unleash his bright array of shots. When Ashwin bowled, Warner drove and reverse-swept.
It was an emotional innings for the Australian. He kissed the turf after reaching 63 – the score at which his ‘mate’ Phillip Hughes was fatally felled by a short-pitched delivery on this very ground – and went on to reach his hundred.
Some clever bowling from Ashwin - he had Warner leaning forward to a delivery that straightened - eventually consumed the left-hander.
Rogers is exceptionally fluent on the off-side and down the ground. He cover-drove and straight-drove Bhuvneshwar who found no swing.
The efficient southpaw also punished Shami through covers. Rogers, though, soon played on to the paceman.
Then skipper Smith batted with the ease of flow of a natural. He stepped down to caress Ashwin through covers, cut the off-spinner with finesse, and then whipped the erratic Yadav.
Watson struggled to find his touch and timing but stayed on with his captain as Australia consolidated.
The Indians missed a trick by not picking a second spinner and going for an extra batsman on this surface. It was a defensive mind-set from a side that should have played five bowlers.
It was a sad sight to see Suresh Raina turn his arm over, bowling his part-time off-spin on day one.
Despite four changes – Shikhar Dhawan and Chesteshwar Pujara were among those who lost their places - India just did not seem to have the right combination.
Ishant Sharma was left out because of a sore knee. His absence was felt as India toiled on a hot day.
Scoreboard
Australia — 1st innings: C. Rogers b Shami 95 (160b, 13x4), D. Warner c Vijay b Ashwin 101 (114b, 16x4), S. Watson (batting) 61 (132b, 6x4), S. Smith (batting) 82 (134b, 10x4); Extras (lb-3, w-6) 9; Total (for two wkts. in 90 overs): 348.
Fall of wickets: 1-200 (Warner), 2-204 (Rogers).
India bowling: Bhuvneshwar 20-2-67-0, Yadav 16-1-97-0, Shami 16-2-58-1, Ashwin 28-5-88-1, Raina 10-2-35-0.
Toss: Australia
