After the spectacular victory in the Perth Test, Team India, which came to play the Day-Night Test in Adelaide with increased confidence and enthusiasm, did not have a good start. It became clear from the first day’s play that not only the Indian batsmen failed in front of the pink ball but the Indian bowlers also could not take advantage of it. The Indian pace attack including Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj was not successful in penetrating the Australian batting and this happened because the Indian bowlers had forgotten the Perth plan, which had given them success in the first Test.
What happened on the first day of Adelaide Test?
On the very first day of this day-night test, which started on Friday 6 December at the Adelaide Oval ground, Team India got bundled out for just 180 runs in its first innings. This was similar to the first day of the Perth Test, where India batted first and then got bundled out for 150 runs. But the big difference in the first day of Perth and Adelaide Test was the Indian bowling. Then Team India had dropped 7 wickets of Australia but in Adelaide, Australia had scored 86 runs after losing only 1 wicket on the first day.
So what happened that the Indian bowling, which looked very lethal in Perth, became ineffective in Adelaide? The pink ball, which was said to be more dangerous for the batsmen in the evening, could not do the same wonders at the hands of the Indian bowlers? The answer lies in the mistake of Team India, which did not repeat the Perth plan. Actually, Bumrah, Siraj and Harshit Rana were the main bowlers of India in Perth also but there was a big difference between the bowling there and on the first day of Adelaide.
How different was Team India’s bowling from Perth?
According to Cricbuzz data, the biggest mistake that Team India’s pace attack made on Friday at Adelaide Oval was not targeting the wicket. These figures have revealed that on the first day in Perth, Indian bowlers bowled 47.5 percent of the balls on the off stump and outside the line, which was about 45.3 percent in Adelaide. That means it was almost equal. The difference came in terms of hitting the stumps. In Perth this figure was 31 percent of the balls which were targeting the stumps, whereas in Adelaide only 20.3 percent of the balls were hitting the stumps or were on its line.
Similarly, in Perth only 10.9 percent of the balls were well outside the off stump, but in Adelaide this figure was 21.3 percent. That means, more balls were going beyond the stumps than were hitting them. That means it was easy for the Australian batsmen to leave the ball for the wicketkeeper, which helped them stay at the crease for a long time. Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney took full advantage of this. One batsman was struggling for form for a long time, while the other batsman was playing only the second Test of his career. Obviously, the Indian bowlers increased the problems for themselves and the team by making their path easier.