Australia vs India: Concerns for Australia following series defeat

A crushing series defeat at home is not the best way to start the New Year, especially when it is inflicted by the hands of one of your fiercest rivals. Australia have highlighted, throughout the course of this test series with India, some short-comings and frailties that, during an Ashes year, could come back to bite them.

The opening partnership is certainly a cause of concern for Australia. They used five different players in those two spots over the course of the series and only one, debutant Will Pucovski, performed well; he was unlucky with injuries and only played the third test, but that was enough to judge his potential.

Matthew Wade can be excused for his shortcomings as an opener, it was his first time opening the batting for the test side and he did well enough. I believe the thinking behind this selection was the fact that Wade is an aggressive batsman who looks to hit boundaries as often as possible. With David Warner, ruled out of the first two tests after sustaining a groin injury in the second One Day International, having a similar batting style, the idea seems to have been that plugging the hole with a similar player would work. Maybe a step too far but Wade wasn’t awful in the opening spot.

Speaking of Warner, it was very obvious to me that he wasn’t at full fitness and seemed to have been rushed back. His running between the wickets was laboured and slow, nothing like the David Warner we’re used to seeing sprint through for quick singles.

The other two openers used, Marcus Harris and Joe Burns, both performed under par. Harris played only in the final test, scoring 5 & 38 in each innings. He has been out of favour as of late, highlighted by the fact that he was only included in the squad following Pucovski’s concussion pre-series, despite scoring a double century in Australia’s domestic competition. Burns was, quite frankly, abysmal. Outside his 51 not out scored during Australia’s successful run chase in the first test, he didn’t score above 10 runs; 8 in the first innings of test one, 0 and 4 in the second test. He was dropped soon after.

Openers are so important for the success of a test side. They set the tempo of the innings and prevent a procession of players coming to the crease when the ball is new and lateral movement is expected. Australia need to shore up this area of the team, especially with The Ashes scheduled at the end of the year. There is hope though; David Warner will surely return to full fitness soon enough and I expect Will Pucovski, barring any further injury problems, to take the other spot and make it his own.

Question marks surround the bowling attack as well; it’s a weird thing to say for what many would consider the best attacking in test cricket. Australia’s six bowlers used took 58 wickets with an average of 31.86, 38 of these were taken by just two bowlers, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood with 21 and 17 wickets respectively. Mitchell Starc took 11 and spinner Nathan Lyon took 9; there were none from Green or part timer Marnus Labuschagne. These numbers highlight a problem within Australia’s bowling unit: their lack of rotation. It’s completely understandable for Australia to stick with the quartet of highly skilled bowlers, yet giving at least one of them a rest at some stage during the series could’ve given a sense of reinvigoration to the attack, as well as an opportunity for those on the side-lines. I believe that this would’ve happened had James Pattinson not gotten injured before the third test, being the most experienced test match bowler outside of the ‘top four’ in the squad.

There are also some opinions in the media and wider community surrounding Tim Paine and the captaincy. As a batsman there are no qualms with Paine’s performances. However as a wicket-keeper, he produced some absolute howlers dropping crucial catches; the three he dropped during India’s second innings in the third test practically cost Australia victory. Paine’s continued dreadful use of the decision review system returned at periods. But it was his captaincy which has been called into question a great deal, especially after drawing the third test. An altercation with Ravi Ashwin was picked up on stump mics in which Paine called Ashwin a ‘d***head’. There were outcries and condemnation of Paine’s behaviour, he himself apologised post game.

Although, I would issue caution in replacing Paine at this stage would be hasty. Since the start of his captaincy in March 2018 he has been excellent, reinventing a team broken and mired in controversy following the sandpaper gate scandal. This outburst constitutes the only time (at least, the only time I can recall) that Paine has behaved subpar, both on and off the field. Changing the captain so close to The Ashes could have a detrimental effect to the team’s performance in a crucial contest.

Australia has to work some issues out if they are going to perform to at their best during The Ashes at the end of the year. But you can put money on Justin Langer ironing out these kinks and bring a highly competitive outfit to the biggest clash in the cricketing calendar.