by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)Getty Images
The stats say it all. Since their series defeat by England in late 2012 – a triumph that grows by the day and reinforces the legacy of Andrew Strauss’ side – India have won a remarkable 35 of 43 home tests, losing just two games.
They have not been beaten in a series and 15 of their wins have come by an innings. Their most recent defeat was perhaps one of India’s best given the hype surrounding the blockbuster against an in-form Australia who started with high hopes.
Those dreams evaporated within three days after a nightmare in Nagpur, where Australia’s clumsy batters were clueless against India’s brilliant spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who had conjured the same old magic tricks against them many times before.
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Australia may have been too smart, dropping in-form middle-class batter Travis Head in a pick-bomb toss. Dominating in his home conditions but notoriously struggling in South Asia, Head’s ax had some merit and reinforced her belief in playing on specialists in the conditions.
But given Head’s form and his ability to change the swing of an inning very quickly, it seemed extremely risky. Wasn’t it at least worth seeing if he could shatter India’s attack with a counterattack, much like Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist did in the famous series opener of the 2001 epic series?
It was a gamble that backfired when his replacement Matthew Renshaw failed and one wonders if Head’s confidence is shaken ahead of his inevitable return for the second Test.
The selection misfire was of course not solely to blame for Australia’s disastrous performance, where the batsmen struggled with the exception of Steve Smith, who dominated Australia’s playing effort in 2017.
Led by debut offspinner Todd Murphy, Australia fought their way back into contention with the ball before being wiped out by Jadeja and fellow spinning all-rounder Axar Patel. The bespectacled Murphy was Australia’s silver lining with a seven-wicket draw in one of the all-time best debuts in Test history.
The 22-year-old passed veteran Nathan Lyon, one of the all-time greatest off-psinners, to prove worthy of his pick and ensure some much-needed depth in Australia’s spinstocks – a failure for some time.
Murphy is threatening Lyon’s successor and if he can maintain his exhilarating start he could start to threaten his mentor’s position.
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Aside from Murphy, Australia haven’t had any other positive results and are hoping they’ll be joined by all-rounder Cameron Green and speedy Mitchell Starc. This was a nightmare for Australia, who had started their previous test tour in India on an unexpected winning note to start an epic streak that left them behind but lost few admirers.
That effort feels a little underrated, perhaps due to India’s momentous victories Down Under, and an outlier because Australia hasn’t been remotely challenging in this rugged terrain for the past 15 years.
Her latest nightmare was perhaps predictable given India’s decades-long stranglehold at home. They are nearly impregnable with a trio of high quality spinners bowling tailored surfaces to increase India’s odds.
Even with India’s absent spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, both big thorns for Australia in recent series, it hardly mattered as the one-sided Test lasted a measly eight sessions.
It feels very much like branding themselves as whitewashing, much like Australia’s embarrassment a decade ago, which led to the sacking of then-coach Mickey Arthur.
Unless the battered visitors can quickly regroup and defy one of the toughest challenges in the sport.
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I have written about cricket for numerous publications including ESPNcricinfo/The Cricket Monthly and The Guardian. I also cover general sports and news for major international media outlets including the Associated Press and Agence France Presse, and am the author of a book on three-on-three basketball. Previously I was a newspaper journalist specializing mainly in local government, crime and courts.
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