Steve Smith endured another tough outing against India as Australia struggles at MCG
When Steve Smith admonishes himself on social media, he does so by taking his full name, as others would do with someone they are angry with. “Nooo Stevennnn …”, you will often hear him yell when he is not entirely satisfied with a shot he has played or the way he has done it. However, it is unlikely that he would have had a chance to do so when he was fired again cheaply at MCG on Monday (December 28) afternoon.
Because he and some of the Indians, including bowler Jasprit Bumrah, had only belatedly realized that the leg hook had fallen off after the ball grazed his thigh and drifted onto the thin leg. All Smith could do was stare in awe before stomping off the field, shaking his head in disbelief.
Marnus Labuschagne is tougher on himself than even Smith. And it never stops. He had reprimanded himself with “arms up, idiot …” a couple of days before the Test, when he was not happy with the way he placed his arms over his shoulder in the nets.
All Labuschagne could do when he got an outside advantage before being captured by Ajinkya Rahane on the slide was stand still and admire the skills with which R Ashwin had prepared him. Australia’s No. 3, unlike No. 4, stayed for a few seconds, haunted by his decision to play Ashwin’s delivery adrift on his rear foot. Then it took him almost a couple of minutes to crawl out of the MCG, and he kept in the shade practicing his front foot defense on his way out.
Neither Smith nor Labuschagne could really have had a genuine complaint with themselves for the way they turned out. It wasn’t like they hit a bad shot or made a bad decision as hitters. Instead, they had been surpassed, planned, and surpassed by two of India’s best at this time, who are sure to end up in the pantheon of greats in the Indian Test. Not forgetting a captain who gave them the freedom to stick to the traps that have been set for key opposition hitters.
It has been evident from the first entries of the Australia series in Adelaide that visitors have come here with very cautious and specific plans for the likes of Smith and Labuschagne in particular. Their overall theme may be based on smothering Smith and Labuschagne and completely taking them out of the rhythm they are so used to on their home pitches. But within that tactic, there have been some intricate setups.
There is always talk of mind games that the local team plays against all the participants in Australia. But so far, this Indian series has the Australians playing on their own minds. Smith is the only standout.
For most of Smith’s career, especially since his meteoric rise as a test hitting giant, opposition teams have been guilty of obsessing over trying to catch him lbw. If not, they have tried to play to their patience by establishing an offside field and bowling across their stumps. And, of course, more emphasis has been put on stopping your cutoff scoring areas. However, what India has done is target one of her slightly less publicized attributes, her ability to use her hands and pick up singles, especially on the hips.
Ironically, India gave away an easy single the first time they hit at bat in Adelaide by having a man about 10 yards from the boundary of the back square leg. Since then, they have had two square legs not far from the right pitcher, which double as possible catching positions, when the seamers are in operation. What India has done by having those two is fix the little leak. Smith’s tap has been turned off.
As a result, we witnessed a moment few would have imagined at MCG on Monday with the crowd roaring with joy and relief as Smith stepped off the mark. There also seemed to be a lot of relief on his face at the time, further exemplifying the nervous energy that had led to the crease.
Smith’s main concern in this series, however, has gone to the other extreme with Ashwin. Twice in two innings he beat it. And you could see how much of an impact Ashwin has had on Smith when you saw the lead hitter’s shadow practicing for the off-spinner while standing on the non-forward end with Bumrah running.
To add to the importance of the moment, Ashwin was right in front of him watching this from the middle. So it was no wonder Smith found a new way out. India, Ashwin in particular, had just gotten into his head. And what Smith was trying to do when he was fired was cross his stumps to try and play the ball more finely to avoid the two square legs. Unfortunately, it was not.
Still, Labuschagne is pedantic with his technique. So much so that he tried to change it mid-game, especially against Ashwin. So instead of going straight to the ball and looking to play it on the turn, he preferred to stay behind, make room, and hit Ashwin for offside. By not having a covering fielder in place for long periods, Ashwin continued to tempt him to keep doing so. But he was rarely thrown by the one that went straight with the angle. Instead, he changed his angle of attack, circled the wicket, and let Labuschagne back up and push against the turn.
Having gotten the right-hander to have the mentality to play in everything, Ashwin chose the right moment to test him with a float before releasing a delivery that drifted into the air and on landing remained so. The knockdown also meant that Labuschagne was beaten at length and the result was a catch for Rahane. The fact that the hyperactive Australian hitter walked around apparently baffled by what had happened was another glimpse of the growing doubts the Indians have managed to place in Australians’ heads with how well they have executed their cunning plans.
The visitors haven’t had to break their heads too much in terms of dealing with some of the other hitters. Joe Burns has been a walking wicket all summer, while Travis Head has carelessly given away his wicket and has already walked three times this series. Matthew Wade, as a makeshift starter, is curiously the only one who has countered the Indian strategy, and he has done so while keeping his own very simple tactics.
He just reacts to the ball rather than anticipating what the Indians may have in store for him. It has worked up to a point. Wade is also not the type that you would think would get too verbally mad at himself while hitting like his high-profile colleagues. If anything, he chooses to take out his frustration on his opponents as he has sometimes done, especially against Rishabh Pant, while scoring maximum scores for the hapless Australians. But he fell prey to Ravindra Jadeja, who, like Wade, is not someone who participates in contests with elaborate plans and instead works to beat hitters by backing up his own strengths. Most of the time it works well too, as he showed here by catching two big wickets in his 10 overs.
Despite all their planning and execution, the Australians have also let them dominate with what have been fairly common hitting performances. Unfortunately, Smith and Labuschagne have been equally guilty of that. Yet you know they won’t die wondering and be back on the nets before the third trial, growling and cursing themselves, desperate to find a way to break free from the Indian strangulation.
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