India losing its track resulted in Australia being one step ahead of India.
The first ever test match played on the grounds of Pune was from February 23- 25. This was part of a five series test match fought between India and Australia. The leading scorer from India’s side was KL Rahul, who scored 64 and 10 runs in both the innings of the match. India also showed an all round bowling performance. R. Ashwin took seven wickets and became the leading wicket taker for India. On the Australian side, it was M. Renshaw and Australian captain Steve Smith who recused the Australian team by scoring 68 and 109 runs individually. When we talk about the bowling prospectus of Australia, S.O.Keefe was the star bowler of the match, who took 12 wickets.
The major reason for India’s defeat was its batting collapse. India managed to restrict Australia on an average score of 260 runs in the first innings with their brilliant all round bowling performance. But in return showed a very poor batting performance, by scoring a mere 105 runs. The second innings was very crucial if we look from India’s perspective as they were nearly 150 runs behind Australia. In the second innings they needed to restrict Australia to a very low score, which they were not able to do because of their poor fielding performance. Dropping 4 catches of Steve Smith, ultimately led him to score 109 runs. This ultimately took Australia’s score to 285, giving them a lead of 400 plus runs. In return Indian team gave a poor response by scoring just 107 runs. Thereby loosing the match by 333 runs.
For the next match which is going to be played in Bangalore, the Indian team should be well prepared. Especially in their batting performance, which has been a big concern for them this time. Players like Karun Nair should be given a chance to play in top 11, looking at his performance in his previous match. There are still 4 matches to go, so India can still make a come back and win the series.
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