The meaning of Indian test match defeat at the hands of Australians

Not since winning a number of test series at home and abroad Indian cricket team facing the enormous task of defending the present home series against Australia especially when they have already lost the first test at Pune where the Indian team was bowled out in both innings for a total of around one hundred.

The Indian crowd had high hopes and real belief of watching a repeat performance but O’Keefe smashed all Indian hopes with his match winning performance of 12 for 70. It was an unbelievable win for tourists which they accomplished on the third day of the match itself handing a 333 runs defeat to home side with more than two days to spare. This is perhaps one of the best performances by a visiting spinner on Indian soil.

This Australian side has come well prepared with fixed plans and if their plan A doesn’t work they have a plan B or even a plan C is ready in place to tackle the Indians in all departments of the game which is evident from their preparation strategy they applied by practicing in UAE.

Whatever the result in next match at Bengaluru but it’s going to be tough series for Indians and let’s accept, for example Captain Steve Smith has done wonderful batting in the first test against Indians and if his current form is any indication the Indians have a tough time ahead.

Australians hadn’t won a test match in India since October 2004 and they were not expecting to win, at least not as easily as they did in first test at Pune that it should work for them as a morale booster for the rest of the on-going series.

However what baffled me that O’Keefe was not man of the match for his outstanding performance in the opening test match but they gave it to Mitchell Starc who was not a bad choice either but O’Keefe certainly deserved it before Mitchell. Maybe Mitchell got the nod for his batting performance in both innings when the chips were down for Australian team.

Indians have not a good record if they lose the first test of a series so they will have to work hard to bounce back from this disappointing situation although Virat Kohli the Indian Captain is known for his fighting abilities. However, the Indian team will have to repeat what they did in 2001 when they were following on. It was a wonderful fight put on by two greats like Dravid and Laxman who snatched victory from Australians.

Australians will have to be careful too as they have bad memories of 2005 series in England when they lost the series despite having won the first test but lost the next two to England. However, India will have to keep in mind that Australians are known for their good work at most occasion when they had won the first test they normally go on to win the series. Most experts believe that India will change its strategy about pitches for rest of the test matches and make them more batsmen friendly.

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