By Ravi Shastri
I want to start off with a strong piece of advice for the Australian team. Save the English manners for the Ashes. What you need are good old Australian manners here in India to bounce back from the defeat in Nagpur.
I want to see them come out and be their aggressive selves in Delhi. To back their ability and play with intent. I was surprised by the lack of it, especially in that second innings, where they were rolled for 91. If you lose, go down throwing punches. Not in the timid, almost un-Australian, fashion that they surrendered against the Indian spinners at the VCA Stadium. But the punch has to be thrown immediately, and they need to hit India hard from the very start in Delhi. If Australia don’t get at India right away, the possibility of a 3-0 or even a 4-0 series defeat looms large.
I would also ask the Aussies to leave their Indian Premier League buddies behind and keep them for later. It felt like there was a bit too much bonhomie on the field in Nagpur for my liking. I want to see that characteristic hard-hitting Aussie intent come to the fore in Delhi.
I can say this with confidence: the Indians will be relentless, as they are always in India. This is as good a bowling attack as they’ve ever had, both in terms of the fast bowlers and the spinners. India have never had a spin trio where all three are all-rounders.
It’s not all lost for the Aussies though, and they need to tell themselves that. Look yourself in the mirror and realise that you’re not as bad as what transpired on Saturday. It was one day, one session where you messed up.
It is rather like when the Indian team was bowled out for 36 at the Adelaide Oval in 2020. It was understandably one of the more challenging days for me as coach. The only difference, though, was that the Indian team had dominated the first two days of play in Adelaide before that incredible collapse. In Nagpur, Australia had few positives, except the sensational debut for young Todd Murphy.
Australian captain Pat Cummins. The team had a crushing defeat in the first Test in Nagpur.Credit:AP
There is another potential positive with the news that Mitchell Starc might be fit to play in the second Test. If so, he has to play. It’s a no-brainer. He will be a threat with the new ball and then come back and be equally destructive with reverse swing. There’s also the rough that he creates for Murphy and Nathan Lyon to make the most of, and thereby bringing them into the game early.
The cracks are beginning to appear, not on the pitch, but off the field for the Aussies. If they don’t address them immediately, they’ll become wide open.
India will look to keep the foot on the gas and be absolutely relentless. A win in Delhi will be even bigger than the one in Nagpur.
The soil is different in Delhi, but we haven’t seen much Test cricket being played there for a while. The ball historically keeps low there as the game progresses, and that’ll bring both teams into the game. In fact, we always spoke about never taking your “A” bat into the nets there because you ran the risk of breaking it.
Australia will have to bring their A+ game if they have to beat India, or even if they are to threaten India. It’s not impossible, as we showed in Australia two years ago. To go from 36 all out in Adelaide to Boxing Day at the MCG, there’s nothing more intimidating than that. But we prevailed, and beat them soundly at the ’G. So, it’s not impossible.
Australia need to believe that it’s not all lost yet. And to stay away from all the external crap, and stay focused on the Kotla.
Ravi Shastri is a former captain and coach of the Indian cricket team.
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