Australia has deserved this series win and all credit should be given to them. What I admire about them is that they go for victory even when things are not going their way. It is their aggression that helps them. Glenn Maxwell, too, has shown he is not about to change his style of batting. When he clicks, he can just take the game away from the opposition. His innings was fantastic, especially since it came under pressure. I feel India did not really pick the right team for this crucial game. If Dhoni had kept Ashwin in the team, things might have been different. We may or may not have won but we had an opportunity as the MCG pitch may have given the spinner a chance. He also allowed the opposition to escape by being a little too defensive at times, especially when the Aussies were six wickets down. The bowlers, as a unit, are still not able to get things right. By now they have had ample time to get used to the conditions. Maybe they are finding it difficult to adjust to the length or feel under pressure once they are hit. They have been giving too much room to the Aussie batsmen and allowed them to dictate terms.
It’s good to see Shikhar Dhawan back in form. He’s still not playing his best cricket but perhaps even this scratchy innings will help, as he has now spent time in the middle and we just might see some good stuff coming up. I think he sometimes tries to dominate too early in the innings, probably some kind of a T20 influence. Dhawan has to stick around and grind out runs and then we are likely to see him back in form. But the pity is that the series is decided in the first three games and now on Dhawan can shine in the remaining dead rubber. The series is lost so this is probably the best time to try out some youngsters. I was slightly surprised that Manish Pandey was left out. He is a good player to have in the middle order. Perhaps Bhuvaneshwar Kumar also should be played as all swing bowlers have been successful provided they had the heart to take the challenge to the Aussie batsmen. In the ultimate analysis the team failed to play as a unit and the individual performance and the records set up did make difference in the score book but the team’s repeated failures needs to be addressed on priority basis. Hype, hoopla and hysteria of Indian Team doing well came to naught once again on an overseas tour.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
