When India had first toured Australia, about two months after Independence in 1947, the visiting team had played matches against Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, an assorted Australian XI and Queensland before they took the ground for the first Test in Brisbane.
The Lala Amarnath-led side had gone down 4-0 in that five-match series against an Australian team that featured Sir Don Bradman. Despite the rich practice they got, the result was not surprising since India at that time were still taking baby steps in cricket, especially when it came to playing overseas.
But even after that, Australia remained a challenging peak to conquer. Over the years, the quality and class of the Indian players improved, but somehow playing
cricket in Australia still remained a grammar difficult to decipher. Till 2018, India
made 11 tours Down Under but managed only five wins in 44 Tests.
However, the script changed during India’s outing in Australia in 2018-19. India won the Test series 2-1. The departure from the usual was not one-off, as India repeated the feat in 2020-21, again winning the Test series 2-1. So there are happy memories to fall back on as Team India pack their bags for a fresh adventure to the kangaroo land. But that’s only on paper, in reality, there are reasons galore to be sceptical about India’s chances this time. The embarrassment against New Zealand has made it worse.
For any overseas cricket tour — more so if it’s to Australia — planning and preparation are paramount. Loose ends need to be tied up well in time, else it’s like fighting a bull with eyes closed. Are India ready this time? Let’s look back to judge better.
Preparation
In 2018-19, before India played the first Test, they played three T20Is as well as a four-day tour match. In 2020-21, India played three ODIs, three T20Is and two three-day tour matches before embarking on the Test journey. Yes, the white-ball players are not usually part of the Test teams nowadays. But on a tour which is that challenging, a team perhaps exists as a whole on the psychological plane, which merges the boundaries between white-ball and red-ball cricket. In other words, time spent in alien conditions ahead of the test of Tests is precious. It induces confidence in the dressing room. Adaptation is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical drill of fine-tuning technique.
This time, India will play no practice matches and will instead rely on three days of match simulation training to get ready before they play their first Test in Perth. For a team which has multiple players who are touring Australia for the first time, the arrangement does trigger doubts. Is that the best that the BCCI, with all its financial and administrative muscle-power, could manage for the Yashasvi Jaiswals and Akash Deeps? Yes, times have changed much from the days of Lala Amarnath, but has cricket, its basic challenges, changed?
India also missed a trick by preparing spinner-friendly wickets in the just-concluded series against New Zealand. When you have a Jasprit Bumrah, preparing more balanced tracks is not really a risk. Had India done so, their batters perhaps would have found it easier, even if a little bit, while dealing with the Australian pitches.
New Zealand had toured Sri Lanka before coming to India. While they lost in the island nation, time spent in subcontinental conditions must have surely helped them plan better on how to tame India in India. The result proves that.
Planning
So preparation-wise, India will surely start on the backfoot in Australia. But what about the planning part? Success is seldom a ready-to-cook formula, it requires the mastery and methods of a good chef to pull off success that tastes sweet. Can head coach Gautam Gambhir be that chef?
Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun had revealed how he and head coach Ravi Shastri had planned much in advance to rein in Steve Smith and Marnus
Labuschagne during the 2020-21 tour.
“Ravi called and said, ‘I want you to make a plan where we eliminate the offside for the Australians.’ Then we sat and planned the whole thing. We said we’re going to attack them with straighter lines and have on-side fields for batsmen. The thought process started in July,” Arun was quoted as saying in an article on espncricinfo.com.
Under Gambhir’s watch, Team India, including captain Rohit Sharma, looked short of ideas against the Black Caps. One hopes Gambhir and his assistants have done their homework for Australia at least.
One of Gambhir’s main tasks must surely be to curb the team’s temptation to fall into the Bazball trap. Overdoing aggression in Tests amounts to careless cricket. One cannot afford that in Australia. Daredevilry is not always about hitting sixes. In the 2020-21 series Down Under, Cheteshwar Pujara had consumed 928 balls — the most by any batter in that series — to frustrate the Australian attack. There’s no Pujara this time. The team must be even more careful, especially at a time when Virat Kohli gets
out to a full toss from a left-arm spinner.
Bat long, do not worry about dot balls, use the crease, buy more time by going on the backfoot... The advices can be many, Gambhir must choose them wisely.
Too much on the plate? C’mon mate, it’s Australia after all!
