IND vs AUS: 3 Reasons for India’s Defeat in the First ODI

In a high-scoring affair, India went down to hosts Australia in the first ODI at Sydney on Friday. Australia piled up a massive 374 runs batting first which is almost an impossible score to chase for any team. The biggest disappointment was that India’s Key players failed to perform and that left too much responsibility on other players. Hardik Pandya tried his best but his effort went in vain and was not good enough after a forgettable bowling performance as India slumped to defeat, making a rather unimpressive start to the tour. It looked as if the Sydney pitch had nothing for the bowlers in the first half of the innings but suddenly came to life in the second half when Josh Hazlewood bounced out the Indian top order batsman including Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, who got himself into a tangle. But the batsman alone are not to be blamed and here are 3 main reasons for India’s flop show-

1. Lacklustre Bowling
Both Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal had a poor day with the bowl and that meant Aussies could put up such a huge score on the board. Ultimately, it put a lot of pressure on India’s top order and they got dismissed in attempt to score quickly. Apart from Mohammed Shami, no other Indian bowler looked in control and the game was completed by Australian batsman. Ravindra Jadeja emerged as the second best Indian bowler after Shami, conceding at 6.30 runs an over, but could not take a wicket which did hurt India.
Chahal who picked up crucial wickets in this year’s IPL not only lacked wickets but also conceded the most runs ever by an Indian spinner in One Day International cricket. During his spell, Chahal conceded five fours and as many sixes and lacked discipline as he bowled as 3 wides and a no-ball.

2. Poor Fielding
One of the major concern was the below par fielding effort from Indian team which was not expected considering the emphasis given on fitness and fielding in the recent times.

As Indian pacers were being punished by the Australian batsman, dropped catches and misfields affected the rhythm of the bowlers and this also frustrated the rest of the team.   Steve Smith may not have been able to score a ton if Shikhar Dhawan had not misjudged at long on and ran too far in. Later on Chahal tried to pull off a stunning catch to dismiss Aaron Finch, but could not hold on to the ball at short fine leg. But at this level, such chances need to be grabbed if you want to compete against a side like Australia and that too in their own backyard. Smith and Finch ultimately went on to hit centuries and take the score above 350. Even Hardik Pandya got a chance to dismiss Glenn Maxwell who was hammering the bowlers all over the gound. But not only did Pandya drop the catch but also sent the ball over the ropes adding six important runs to the Australian total. Besides that Shreyas Iyer and Mayank Agarwal also looked sloppy on the field and this is a matter that needs to be discussed and the coach and captain need to work ou how to improve this area.
After the match, Indian captain Kohli  did try to explain the reason behind India’s sloppy fielding. He complete denied the reason that the team had spent so much time in quarantine and clearly said that there cant be any excuses. Although he said this was the first long game all the Indian players had played after such a long time as they had been playing T20 cricket only. Kohli further said that if you don’t take your chances than such a top quality opposition will definitely make you pay.

3. Top Order Failure
The pressure of such a big target was visible as the Indian batsman looked desperate to score quick runs which led to early dismissal of Agarwal, Kohli and Iyer. From struggling at 101/4, India would have probably lost by a bigger margin if it was not for the brilliant partnership between Dhawan and Pandya but both of them were just left with too much to do and India ended up 66 runs short of Australia’s score. Notable thing is that for Australia, Steve Smith and Aaron Finch scored centuries but no one managed to reach the three figure score for Team India. Indian batsman struggled with short deliveries and Hazlewood took full advantage. The Indian batsman would need to strategise and find out a way to deal with this as the Aussie bowlers would come out and once again focus on this weak area of Indian batsman. In India and United Arab Emirates, the ball does not bounce like it bounces here on some of the Australian pitches and it will be very difficult for India to put a good score or chase down big target if they not able to find a solution to this short ball tactic from the Australian Bowlers.

Now Team India needs to bring it’s ‘A’ Game in the remaining two matches as they stare at a do-or-die situation in the ODI series. They will need their bowling department to perform a lot better plus the a confidence bossting fielding effort if they want to make a comeback. Top Order batsman will also need to play more responsibly when India take on Australia in the second ODI on Sunday. It will also be interesting to see if Indian team makes any change to the playing 11 or they stick to the same side and back the players who could not perform. India have Kuldeep Yadav who is known for picking up wickets at crucial junctures and then there is T Natarajan who impressed everyone with the amount of yorkers he used to bowl towards the end of the innings, making it almost impossible for the batsman to hit fours and sixes. As far as the batting order, there are the likes of Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey waiting for their opportunity.

Video: WORST PERFORMANCE BY CHAHAL