When India and Australia come up against each other in the second Test match at the Optus Stadium in Perth, it will be only the second time in twelve tours Down Under that India have been ahead of the hosts. The last time India found themselves ahead of Australia in a Test series played Down Under was in 2003-04; on that occasion, after the stalemate in the series opener in Brisbane, India went one-up at Adelaide, before the hosts bounced back to square the series at Melbourne.
With a juicy surface awaiting both the sides at Perth, Team India will be aware they cannot rest on their laurels and need to bring their A-game to the colosseum that is the Perth Stadium (a.k.a Optus Stadium).
The Perth Stadium will be the 10th venue in Australia and the 117th venue in the world to host Test cricket.
Locals – former cricketers and the common man on the street – are pretty confident the Test match will only last three days, given the grass cover one saw on the surface on the eve of the game.
Therefore, the focus will be on the two openers more than ever before – given the rumours that the surface is likely to be as pacy as the surface at the WACA of old.
The openers and the opening partnership continues to be a huge problem for India; even though KL Rahul and Murali Vijay saw India off to a decent start in the second innings, the team will expect better starts from the opening pair and bigger scores from both individuals.
KL Rahul appears to be lacking clarity and needs to be sat down and spoken to about his role in the team. As a youngster, Rahul was always spoken about as someone who had strong foundations – sound technique and temperament – and plenty of class. However, over the last couple of years, while his shot-making ability has improved, he has added to his repertoire, scores his runs at a quicker rate and still looks classy when he plays his strokes, question marks have emerged about his temperament.
In the early part of his career, Rahul converted four of his five innings in which he had gone past 50 to a three-figure score. In the last twenty Test matches, he has gone past 50 on 11 occasions, but has converted only one of those to a ton. Those conversion stats best illustrate how his temperament has changed for the poor.
Rahul’s improved shot-making ability was there for all to see at the Adelaide Oval when he played an outrageous shot to a delivery bowled by Pat Cummins; the 26-year-old opener creamed a wide delivery and deposited the ball into the stands at sweeper cover.
That Rahul is talented and valuable can also be established from the fact that he is one of only three Indian cricketers to score a hundred in all three formats of international cricket – even Virat Kohli hasn’t done that.
However, despite being well-set in the second innings, he played a loose shot – edging to the wicket-keeper. One wouldn’t expect that kind of a dismissal from a batsman who had consumed more than 65 balls and had batted close to two hours.
Murali Vijay’s selection into the Indian team – after being dropped midway through the England series earlier this year – raised eyebrows when the team was announced. The opener from Tamil Nadu must be feeling intense pressure now, having only managed scores of 11 and 18 in the series opener.
A closer look at Vijay’s career throws up some interesting numbers. In Test matches since November 2016, Vijay averages nearly 52 in Test matches at home; off the seven times he has gone past 50 in those 12 Tests, he has gone on to reach three figures on six occasions (including the century in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan at Bengaluru in June). In stark contrast, in six overseas Tests – all of them this year – he averages a dismal 13.08.
In the second innings at Adelaide, Vijay did all the hard work, consuming more than 50 balls and batting for more than an hour, before chasing a wide one and edging to second slip.
Is this a case of a batsman being low on confidence, or a player with diminishing ability – courtesy age? He is clearly battling hard, trying to score runs and contribute to the team’s cause.
That both Vijay and Rahul have got two bites of the cherry Down Under so far is down to Prithvi Shaw’s ankle injury, keeping the prodigious opener out of action. The teenager will be back sooner than later – perhaps at Melbourne itself, for the third Test. Time is running out for India’s ‘senior’ opening pair.
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