Eight balls before stumps on a rain-shortened third day in Brisbane, KL Rahul called Rohit Sharma for a cheeky single as Pat Cummins fumbled at short mid wicket.
There was a slight mix-up, but Rohit managed to reach the striker’s end without any further damage. It, however, didn’t stop the India captain from showing his dissent at Rahul for not checking on the ball as it slid past Cummins.
The Australian captain couldn’t pick it up cleanly as he hurried to his right to stop the ball. By stumps, India reached a torturous 51/4 in reply to Australia’s 445.
India lost three top-order batters by the time they reached 22, mostly because of some insipid display, bereft of application and temperament. The will to stay at the wicket and tire the bowlers down through sheer determination seemed missing.
Yashasvi Jaiswal again fell victim to Mitchell Starc — this time to the second ball of the innings after getting away with a flashy drive through the slip cordon earlier — flicking straight into the hands of square leg.
Worse was to follow as both Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli chased deliveries wide outside the off stump to make it easier for the hosts. The Australians didn’t have to sweat it out like Jasprit Bumrah and plan each dismissal as the Indians fell for the bait in the corridor.
It made things tougher for Rishabh Pant as he was forced to curb his natural instincts. In an attempt to play the waiting game, he perished nicking behind. He has now been dismissed by Cummins for the third time in five innings.
The top-order’s mode of dismissal is bound to raise several questions along with the efficacy of the support staff. Even someone of Kohli’s stature has refused to learn from his mistakes. On Monday, he copped another failure, chasing a ball almost on the seventh stump.
Quite naturally, it prompted Sanjay Manjrekar to scrutinise the role of a batting coach on social media and ask why such technical issues have remained unresolved. With none entrusted with the responsibility in the team ranks, head coach Gautam Gambhir will have to take much of the blame. But does a Kohli or a Gill need to be tutored on such basics?
Perhaps, the attacking field set-ups by the Australians which led to open spaces in front prompted Kohli to go for his shots. Kohli has already got a hundred on this tour though it came after Jaiswal and Rahul had done the hard work and the Australian attack was content with going through the motions.
Kohli has been chasing deliveries almost like a man possessed. On Monday, he was lucky to survive off the first ball as it whizzed past the outside edge.
Was he trying to show intent by counterattacking and pushing the Australians into a shell? Or are doubts creeping into the minds of a batter who at 36 is failing in timing and technique? Or is it the mental struggles as he nears the end of his career?
It isn’t that Kohli hasn’t been trying hard in the nets. Time and again he has shown the desire to sort out the slightest of technical issues which may have crept into his game.
It’s not that the conditions or the quality of the bowling is too alien. His batting has always been risk-averse and he has relied on the time-tested formula of controlled aggression.
The new Kookaburra ball has worked in favour of the taller Australian fast bowlers but he is known to successfully battle out such shortcomings. Few sessions with Sachin Tendulkar and a slight change in mindset and stance had brought success during the England tour of 2018 following his failure in 2014.
Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that Kohli should draw inspiration from Tendulkar’s 241 in Sydney in 2004 and refrain from playing the cover drive to end his persistent struggles against deliveries outside off-stump.
Tendulkar’s innings was a masterclass in patience and desire to evolve under pressure. There were 33 boundaries at the SCG but not one came from his signature stroke, the cover drive.
“It was not a conscious decision but the moment I realised the Australians were trying to play with my patience and challenge me, something triggered and I told myself, ‘let’s see who loses patience first’,” Tendulkar said later.
Kohli needs a similar conviction and willpower to turn things around.
