India’s spinners have gone about their job smartly so far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The pitches have also assisted them in their craft. But have they been unplayable? No. Much of Australia’s woes are also because of their own ploy, which looks faulty after two defeats.

One is referring to the Aussie strategy of employing pre-determined sweeps and reverse sweeps to counter the Indian spinners.

Ravindra Jadeja, who finished with a match-haul of 10 wickets in the Delhi Test, believes overuse of the sweep shot from the Aussies has helped him get bagfuls of wickets.

“These wickets suit me because the odd ball spins and some stay low. I knew they’d play sweeps and reverse sweeps, so my idea was just about keeping it simple and straight.

“I knew they were looking for runs, so the plan was just bowling into the stumps. If they make a mistake, I have a chance. I don’t think sweep is a good option against me on this kind of wicket.”

India captain Rohit Sharma, himself a master batsman, echoed Jadeja’s point. He believes technique is equally important when attacking and not just while defending.

“You need technique to defend as well as attack, including the shots down the ground, sweep and reverse sweep. All the boys playing for India have grown up playing all these shots and defend at the same time.

“On pitches like these, it is very important to have confidence in your own technique. The preparation for that becomes crucial. Ahead of the Nagpur Test, we had six-seven days and we utilised them really well. We worked on what shots to play and how to play them.

“We were playing in Nagpur on red soil, while here we were batting on black soil.

Here, the sweep was not a very good option, stepping out to the spinners was probably the safer option. That is my view.”

Rohit’s Australia counterpart, Pat Cummins, admitted that they haven’t been wise in their shot selection.

“Everyone controls their own game, some balls just have your name. But we need a review on the shot choice... Did we do things right? Both games were disappointing, this one in particular... This loss hurts,” Cummins said.

Two more Tests remain. Will Australia be able to sweep away their errors?

With inputs from PTI