'36 all out: Australians reject mental disintegration tactics'

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Friday the 18th had passed without much event. India had made 244 in the first innings and then bowled Australia out for 191. Then, they ended the day on 9/1. Pretty normal for the kind of match it had been up until that point.

Then, Saturday the 19th dawned. The match was fascinatingly poised with India 62 runs ahead but no one saw what was coming next. By drinks, India had been reduced to 26/6 in 18 overs. A little later, the visitors’ innings ended on 36, with Mohammed Shami retiring hurt. People tried to make sense of the moment but there was no sense to be made. In the space of 16 overs (on Day 3) they were all out, without one batsman reaching double figures – a first in Test history.

For many in India, mention Adelaide and it still brings back memories of the first Test on the 2020/21 tour. They can’t forget the manner in which the batters made a beeline for the dugout. It’s one of those things that you can’t… don’t forget. But, as the cricket makes its way back to the very same venue, the Australian team is trying its darndest to do just that.

It’s been just one Test of a five-Test series, but it already feels like Australia are in need of a pick-me-up. And going by that logic, it would be great to remember the feeling of the day they simply destroyed the Indian batting line-up. After all, isn’t that what sportspeople do when they are down — go see videos of when they or their team was doing well.

But not Australia. Not in 2024. They are trying hard to remain in the present.

“36 all out? Yeah, it’s nice. I remember it was a quick Test and we got to enjoy all the bits of Adelaide after that Test. But I haven’t really revisited it or watched it. It was nice but I don’t think it will happen this week,” said Travis Head.

If this had been the Australia of old — Glenn McGrath, Steve Waugh, Justin Langer, Shane Warne — they wouldn’t have let India forget. They would have brought it up at every available occasion to eke out whatever little advantage they could. “Mental disintegration”, Waugh used to call it.

But this bunch has, as is perhaps the way of modern teams, focussed more inwards. The game they want to play and how they want to play it. A small psychological edge always helps though and perhaps Australia are missing a trick there.

They have been nice, almost too nice. Some in Australia are calling in the IPL effect. You only diss your future team-mates to a certain extent. Any more and it might lead to friction later. So, why bother…

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who will miss the second Test due to a side strain, was one of the wreckers-in-chief in that Test, claiming 5/8.

“We came back the next day — it’s the toughest time to bowl when you’re in the second innings, and they’ve got a lead, so you’re trying to attack and take wickets while not leaking runs. It’s a tough little period of bowling, so I guess things just fell into place that way,” Hazlewood told cricket.com.au on Tuesday.

“I remember coming on as the first change. They just kept nicking everything; I didn’t really plan it. It was my first ball, and I was just trying to hit the length. We were off to a good start — they were 3 for 15 — so I was trying to apply the pressure and keep it going, not trying to do anything fancy, just hitting the line and length. Luckily, I got the nick first up.

“Rahane was a pretty big wicket in that series, particularly in Australia. He’s a good player. It was the fifth ball of the first over, so I wasn’t trying to do anything special — just sticking to line and length. The pink ball was doing enough on its own.”

Through most of the lead-up to the first Test, the match itself, and now this little period before the second Test, Australia have shown confidence in themselves but they have been wary of saying too much about the Indians. They are ‘good players’; they are a ‘good team’ — that is probably as far as they’ve chosen to venture.

When wicket-keeper Alex Carey was asked a question about the collapse on Tuesday, he too chose to play it down.

“They’re obviously amazing days in cricketing history. But no, we don’t go out there expecting to do that again. We have a process and a plan and try to execute and whatever happens, happens. But I wasn’t here for that Test match. I tried to get in, but I missed it. It happened too quickly.

“But yeah, we’re excited. I think we should take a lot, and we do take a lot of confidence out of our record with pink-ball cricket. It doesn’t mean we’ll have the success, but I think our methods, our style of play, and the experience we have in this group, (we) will bounce back from Perth.”

Australia, of course, are doing the right things, playing the game in the right spirit and not getting distracted. But as Virat Kohli told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a few days back in Canberra, “always got to add some spice”.