Steve Smith: 1st ODI, 105 runs off 66 balls; 2nd ODI, 104 off 64 balls. Jasprit Bumrah: 1st ODI, 10-0-73-1; 2nd ODI, 10-1-79-1. To be f...
Steve Smith: 1st ODI, 105 runs off 66 balls; 2nd ODI, 104 off 64 balls.
Jasprit Bumrah: 1st ODI, 10-0-73-1; 2nd ODI, 10-1-79-1.
To be fair, the tour of Australia has had a retro feel in more ways than one. The jersey, a throwback to the 1992 World Cup, adds to the feeling but the manner in which Australia has dominated the ODIs really does take one back to the old days. And that is not a good thing.
In the old days, India was so clueless about Australian conditions that tours would invariably begin with defeats in the warm-up games. Those defeats would have such an impact on the psyche of the Indian team that they would not recover for the rest of the tour.
Australia would target India’s best and keep up the attack until they would break. The current tour has begun in that same worrying manner for India. Star bowler Bumrah looks off-colour. He hasn’t got any movement in the air or off the pitch, the sharp bouncer is missing and he has been carted for runs all over the ground. He has gone for more than 70 runs in each of the matches and that will be giving the Indian team management sleepless nights.
The early breakthroughs...
