Updated: January 11, 2021 7:29:02 AM
How do you describe the desire that leads to breakouts exactly when the game is waiting to be seized? Cheteshwar Pujara drastically changed gears in the fall of Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket and India was on the rise when Hanuma Vihari ran away. The match and series were at stake in the last couple of expert strikes in the middle when R Ashwin was executed, limited by his body which inhibits his confidence in the partner’s call. The last chance for a mini-miracle was eliminated when Jasprit Bumrah was not quick enough to quench Jadeja’s thirst to retain the attack.
Vihari’s brain weakens
Not long after Rahane left India with some discomfort at 116 to 3, Pujara reached 16 out of 100 balls and decided to increase the pace before the second ball was made. He took 11 races from Nathan Lyon, with a pair of fours, and also took Josh Hazlewood to the border when Vihari’s brain weakened. He was in four, that was his 38th ball, the last 13 had only done one run – and maybe he wanted to retaliate for Pujara, who had hit 16 of his last 19 balls. Perhaps he was led to think he had momentum as he walked down the track for the ride. He saw a single in the barren desert; proved to be a mirage. Hazlewood intervened quickly, moving to the right in the middle of the attack, dived, grabbed and hurled the ball immediately when it fell. It was Vihari who had to dust the arena.
There was an impressive shot from Spidercam: all Australians firing wildly at Vihari, who was crawling, a helpless figure who perhaps feared he was losing his career. I’m not sure yet, as the administration trusts him and, more importantly, there is still a second entry for him to prove, but he certainly put the game in danger for India.
142 to 4. Even so, with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, the two southpaws that Ravi Shastri loves to play as XI, things weren’t quite so bad yet.
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Ashwin is over
Theoretically, it hurt more, as it was not a surprise. Vihari’s burnout was not preventable. That was bad. Ashwin knows he is not a good runner. Jadeja must know. The world knows for sure. Certainly, Australians did what they had repeatedly aimed at Ashwin in the field, launching simple rapids.
There was even a warning sign just two points before the accident. Jadeja had forced a delivery of Pat Cummins to cover and wanted a single, even running a short distance. Ashwin sent him back. This should have been a reminder of the state of affairs. It was an uneven combination: Jadeja, one of the fastest cricket players in the world and Ashwin one of the slowest. One more eager to steal a race, the other happy to give up on a race. One who likes to run, the other has long since resigned over the betrayal of his body. “If I could have, I would have taken my soul and killed this body,” he told Cricbuzz of his injuries last year.
In Jadeja’s mind, it probably wasn’t even too risky. He had placed it to Cummins’ right in the middle of the line. He left without a doubt; Ashwin certainly had doubts, if not about his partner’s connection. He turned to take a look at Cummins starting to move to the right and leave. Without that delay caused by doubt, he would be home. Without that doubt, however, he would not be Ashwin.
It is a complicated situation. Ashwin should have trusted Jadeja’s connection and fled, but then there was the previous episode that must have reiterated to him that he cannot be trusted blindly. Well, if he had run that single, he wouldn’t have done it at his pace. Then, this time too, he cast a side look to see the ball.
Could Jadeja have shown better awareness of Ashwin’s disability? With that ball, he probably felt that there was no need, as confidence would take Ashwin home. And in the process, Ashwin, who had started quickly, hitting a pair of fours, fell and India was deflated in 206 to 7.
Final blow
When the next race came, leaving them with 216 to 9, there was no shock or grimace, just laughter at the tragicomic state of affairs. This time, the mistake was the beginning, not the middle when they turned to the second. Jadeja had to wait to see if the short-leged defender had stopped him or not before starting to run. The ball was deflected by Marnus Labuschagne. Jadeja waited, and so did Bumrah, who was not sure what Jadeja would do. Suddenly, when the ball left Labuschagne’s shadow, Jadeja started to advance. At that point, Bumrah must have known that the intention was not just one, but two, and tried his best to cross and go back blind. But the delay at the start, forced by the deviation, and while waiting for Jadeja to make the move meant that he would always be behind the eight ball, as they say. And from then on, India too.