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Lucknow: Former Australian white-ball cricket captain Aaron Finch has urged Australia’s batting line-up to adopt a more aggressive attitude to spin bowling after India’s masterful trio strangled them and kept them to a losing score in Sunday’s World Cup match in Chennai.
Between them, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravinchandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav took six Australian wickets while conceding barely three runs an over. Australia’s vaunted middle order took them for a total of only six boundaries. Jadeja and Australia’s Steve Smith said separately that it felt like Test cricket. That suited India fine.
Finch said the conditions favoured the Indians, but so did the mindset of the batsmen. “You can’t allow Jadeja, Kuldeep and Ashwin to bowl how they want to bowl on a surface like that,” said Finch, who is in India as a commentator and writes a column for the ICC. “They’re so accurate and so highly skilled – Jadeja has done it to Australia so many times now.
“Part of it comes down to how India bowled spin, but we also need to look at the way that Australia batted. There was a clear plan among the group to be proactive, to try to limit dot balls and rotate strike against what they knew would be a world-class group of spinners.
“There was a bit of a lack of aggression from the Australian batters. I think they’ll be disappointed by the intent they showed and the fact that they weren’t able to put any pressure back on India.
“It needs a mindset shift, to look to be on the front foot a little more and take some calculated risks.”
Ravindra Jadeja after dismissing Alex Carey.Credit: Getty
When dew fell in the evening, neither of Australia’s spinners, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell, were able to exercise anything like the same hold on the Indian batsmen. After an early scare when they lost their first three batsmen for ducks, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul shepherded the home team to a comfortable victory.
Finch said the conditions played a part. Neither side had expected such a thick dewfall. “I spoke to (Indian coach) Rahul Dravid before the game, and he didn’t expect there to be any dew,” Finch said.
Marcus Stoinis could come in to the Australian team to bolster the batting depth.Credit: Getty Images
“He was really surprised when it came down and said that India would have batted first as well.
“(But) in the end, it came down to one thing – India’s spinners out-bowled Australia’s.”
Finch’s observation underscores two sensitive questions facing Australia as they attempt to gather themselves for Thursday’s clash with South Africa in Lucknow. One is whether it was a mistake to include only one frontline spinner in the squad. That’s Zampa and he is struggling for form. But there is not much Australia can do about it other than cross their spinning fingers.
The other is whether Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, for all their accomplishments in Test cricket, can force the pace when needed in the 50-over game. The same question could be asked of Cameron Green. Australia might be able to afford one batsman who moves through the gears slowly and methodically, but not three. That probably means that if Marcus Stoinis is fit for Thursday’s match, he will replace either Green or Labuschagne.
The bright side for Australia is that is this is a tournament, so losing one match is not as disastrous as in a bilateral series. Moreover, Australia won’t have to play India again until the finals if both make it.
The downside is that they’re still playing in India. For typically byzantine Indian political reasons, they’re now camped in Lucknow, a venue that previously has staged only one Test match, between the West Indies and Afghanistan, and just four one-day internationals.
In those four matches, no team has made more than 250.
“Lucknow is notorious for being extremely low, slow and spin-friendly,” said a Wisden guide to World Cup venues, “but the square also contains some flat pitches that saw huge scores in the IPL.
“Seamers who are good at taking pace off will love to bowl at this venue. This is expected to be one of the toughest venues for batting at this World Cup.”
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