In the fourth and final Test of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, both teams have entered with a different mindset. Taking a lot of precaution, India did not adopt a very aggressive stance. At the same time, the Australian team led by Usman Khawaja made a cautious approach in Ahmedabad.
The wicket at the Narendra Modi Stadium is better for batters as it has produced a good surface for them. Keeping this in mind, the Aussies after winning the toss decided to bat first and came up with a cautious approach.
So far, it has been seen that the team batting first after winning the toss is losing a lot of wickets on the first day. Even in previous matches, ten or more wickets fell on the first day. But things look pretty evenly poised in Ahmedabad post the end of play on Day-1 with opening batter Khawaja holding one end remaining unbeaten on 104.
On the other end, all-rounder Cameron Green also made the most of batting conditions batting at 49, stitching an unbeaten partnership of 85 runs with Khawaja. On the contrary, India’s stance appeared defensive. It would be fair to call it the success of the Australian batters as they lost only four wickets. The approach by Khawaja and others was to play applying best to the conditions thereby losing minimum wickets. Summing up the first day’s play, we can conclude that the Aussies were also successful to a great extent by not losing too many wickets. Therefore, it can be said that 255 for 4 is a good score to put up.
Going into Day-2, Australia are in an advantageous position with Khawaja and Green at the crease; taking the team towards the 300-run-mark. I was expecting the Indian team management will be giving Kuldeep Yadav a chance, but they stuck to Axar Patel for his batting prowess that he has displayed at the lower order throughout the series. Axar, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin did bail Team India out which the top order batters failed to do so in the first two Tests.
Axar gives the team the required depth that was needed in the lower-order. Certainly, his bowling hasn’t lived up to its potential. He must also be thinking about how to deliver with the ball in his hand – he being the local boy. He is the fifth bowling option for Rohit Sharma and I believe if he takes a few wickets on Day-2, it will boost his confidence.
The writer is Virat Kohli’s childhood coach a Dronacharya Awardee