The Crazy Day 3 of IND vs AUS 2nd Test: How to Lose 9 Wickets Under One Session and Throw Away a Match ft. Australia

Story of how Australia went from 61 for 1 on morning session of Day 3 to losing the Test match even before Tea: a lesson for all visiting teams on how not to bat vs Indian spinners in India

Source: Twitter

The first hour of a day's play in a Test match does not recognise greatness of a batter. It does not see the abundance of talent in a cricketer either. You love the game one day, you hate it the next day. Test cricket is brutal. You may have batted extremely well the previous day with a monk-like focus. When you restart the next day, the last day's effort remain of very less value. The scoresheet may reveal you batted well. The dressing room's environment may tell that you took the team to a safe or winning position. But when the first hour of the next day's play begins, the score against your name on the sheet is of no use. It won't help you survive one hour more in that innings. You have to repeat it all over again. Go back to basics - defend, tap, run, hit, smash, sweep, step out. In a nutshell, score the runs but be there. This is what Test match batting is all about. And it's not easy.

Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head felt the same. That it is not easy. Carrying on the last day's momentum to the new day. Not easy as nothing comes easy in Test cricket.

Love the game _ pic.twitter.com/0SkFPOcA9J — Marnus Labuschagne (@marnus3cricket) February 18, 2023

Head and Labuschange went back smiling after the end of second day's play in Delhi Test. It was the best day for Australians on this tour so far and it seemed they were now coming into the Test match groove finally on the Indian soil. Adopting an aggressive approach, Head had made 39 off 40 balls by stumps on Day 2. Labuschagne too was going at a healthy strike rate. Aussies had made the plan to tackle the spin by attacking the ball. The approach had given good returns too. 

In order to attack, the Aussies started sweeping the spinners. Here is where R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja changed their plan. Here's what changed on Day 3. 

At the start of the day, Ashwin showed his mastery over the red cherry by getting Head into two minds and got him in just the first over of the day. From thereon the fall began. Steve Smith, who usually bats at his own pace, started to do something which you don't associate with his game. But he felt it was important to follow the message from the dressing room: Attack the spinners and do that by playing sweep. Smith has his own way of playing spin and he has done it many a times successfully in India. Don't forget his Pune masterclass in 2017. But here he started sweeping, way too much for anyone's liking.   

Career-best Test figures for Ravindra Jadeja _#WTC23 | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/ikHe85pfez

— ICC (@ICC) February 19, 2023

Ashwin here played smartly. He was bowling constantly to Smith from round the wicket in the 2nd innings, thinking he might get him out in first innings style again wherein he pitched the ball around off stump and instead of coming in, it straightened, tricking Smith and taking the outside edge into the keeper's hands. But Smith wanted to avoid falling into this trap again and continued to sweep in the second innings. He knew that even if he missed the ball and it hit the body, the umpires would not give it out because of the angle.

Ashwin understood the tactics and soon switched to over the wicket. What Ashwin did here is he bowled quicker, fuller. Smith, who was already into the sweep, missed one ball while sweeping and was rapped on the pads quite low. Umpire had no doubt in his mind that it would have crashed into stumps. That was Ashwin, at his best, using his smartness and knowledge of the home conditions to outdo the planning of opponents. 

Labuschagne soon followed Smith to the dresssing room. He did not get out to a sweep but he was always bothered by the incoming Jadeja delivery from round the wicket that would clean him up. And he got out in exactly the same fashion. Jadeja is a kind of bowler, who gives you no room to make mistakes. His quicker arm ball that kept low brought the end of Labuschagne, who made the criminal mistake of going on back foot to play him on an Indian pitch.  

From thereon, they started falling like nine pins. One knew Aussies would not last long. But no one expected them to get bowled out for just 113 too. Jadeja and Ashwin kept it simple as Aussies made their job easier by continuing to sweep. Matt Renshaw, Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, Matthew Kuhnemann - all fell either sweeping or reverse-sweeping the ball. The 'sweep to survive' mode underlined Australia's weakness in this innings. Ashwin and Jadeja knew the visitors had no other way to bat against them so they bowled fuller and quicker and let the pitch and the batters do the rest. 

Australia lost 9 wickets and made just 52 runs in the first session. From being in a dominant position at end of Day 2 with lead of 62 runs to losing the game before Tea on Day 3, Aussies understood why it is so hard to beat this Indian team at home. The game slipped out of hand due to one session of extremely poor cricket.