The first Test commenced in Pune and Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Australia after having got off to a reasonably good start of 50 runs started losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 260 runs.
The last pair of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood had added 55 valuable runs of which Starc’s contribution was 54 runs. Umesh Yadav (4 for 32) and R Ashwin (3 for 63) were the successful bowlers.
India in their first innings kept losing wickets in quick succession and were bowled out for 105 after having being 95 for 5 wickets at one stage. KL Rahul, who batted very solidly for 64 runs, had a rush of blood and tried to hit left arm spinner Steve O’Keefe over deep mid off, only to hole out to Warner who accepted the catch gleefully. It was this shot that started the rot for India’s low total. O’Keefe had a dream spell of bowling to capture 6 wickets for 35 runs. It must be said that he was superbly supported by Peter Handscombe, who held onto two stunning catches offered by Ajinkya Rahane and Ashwin.
Australia batting the second time scored 285 with Captain Steve Smith batting determinedly for 109 runs. However he was dropped 4 times during this innings with two catches being fairly easy ones. Matt Renshaw and Mitchell Marsh scored 31 runs each and Starc, once again showing that he can be a useful lower order batsman, contributed 30 runs. Ashwin (4 for 119) and Jadeja (3 for 65) were the main wicket takers for India.
India in their second Innings, perhaps due to loss of confidence after the low score in the first innings were once again bowled out for 107 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara was the only batsman to offer resistance in scoring 31 runs. O’Keefe proved that his dream spell in the first innings was no flash in the pan, by getting 6 wickets for 35 runs which earned him the Man of the Match award. He was well supported by Nathan Lyon whose haul was 4 for 53. The secret of O’Keefe’s success was that he kept the ball on a good length on off stump and spun it slightly off the wicket to find the outside edge of the Indian batsmen who were mostly right handers. He was also able to put to good use his arm ball in getting some wickets through lbw’s.
Australia won this Test Match by 333 runs with a day to spare, quite contrary to the thinking prior to this match. India was expected to taunt the Aussies especially as the Aussies were considered to be suspect on sub continent wickets.
The second Test was played at Bengalaru and India having won the toss elected to bat first. After the two low totals in the first Test their batting did not seem to have recovered and they were bowled out for 189 runs. Rahul once again batted confidently in contributing 90 runs to this total. Nathan Lyon, who got a lot of bounce and turn from the pitch, scalped 8 batsmen for 50 runs. He was able to obtain this sharp bounce and turn due to the moisture on the wicket drying up slowly during the first session of play.
Australia going into bat were able to score only 276 runs towards which Renshaw contributed 60, Shaun Marsh a resolute 66 and Mathew Wade 40. Left arm spinner Jadeja too extracted a lot of turn and bounce in claiming 6 for 63 runs. In fact he turned the ball so sharply that it missed the outside edge of the right handed batsmen on numerous occasions.
India in their second innings batted doggedly and were dismissed for a total of 274. Pujara 92, Rahane 52 and Rahul 51 were the main scorers. Pujara was dropped earlier on in his innings which proved to be costly in the end for the Aussies. Paceman Hazelwood bowled with a lot of control and guile to claim 6 for 67runs. This was an outstanding piece of bowling considering that the wicket was more conducive to spin. However during India’s second Innings, it was observed that the bounce off the wicket was becoming increasingly unpredictable, which meant that Australia would have to bat extremely well in scoring the 191 runs required to win.
What unfolded in the Australian second innings was an Australian batting debacle where they were dismissed for a total of 112 runs leaving India victorious by a margin of 77 runs. Captain Smith, who was the biggest threat to India’s victory, was dismissed LBW off a Umesh Yadav delivery which hardly rose off the pitch. Thus India had bounced back strongly in this Test match making the two Tests to follow an interesting battle.
The Third Test was played at Ranchi and Australia having won the toss batted first. They lost wickets regularly and were 140 for 4 with the threat of being dismissed under a par score of at least 400 runs. At this point Glenn Maxwell who had been recalled to Test Cricket after a long layoff, established a partnership of 191 runs with Captain Smith and when the Australian Innings finally ended they had totaled 451 to which Smith’s contribution was 178 not out and Maxwell’s 104. Jadeja (5 for 124) and Yadav (3 for 106) were among the wickets.
India in their first Innings piled on 603 runs for 9 wickets declared with Pujara batting for almost 5 sessions to score 202. Saha (117), Vijay (82), Rahul (67) and Jadeja (54*) being the other contributors. Pat Cummins, replacing injured Starc for this Test Match bowled with a lot of fire to pick up 4 for 106. It must be said that the Australians, though conceding this big total, made the Indian batsmen work very hard for runs as it took them 210 overs under 3 runs an over to get to this score.
Australia in their second innings lost early wickets and when it looked as if the game would end midway in the second session of the final day, Peter Handscombe 72 not out and Shaun Marsh 53 produced a match saving partnership of 124 to take Australia to 204 for 6 wickets and draw the game. Thus the Test Series remained level at one Test each with everything to play for in the final Test at Dharamsala.
Australia, winning the toss for the third time in the series, decided to bat first and were progressing well losing only one wicket for 144 runs. They squandered this good start by losing the last 9 wickets for a meager 156 runs. The Indian selector’s masterstroke of bringing in Kuldeep Yadav, an over the wrist left arm spinner as a replacement for the injured skipper Virat Kholi, paid rich dividends as he picked up 4 wickets for 68 runs with most Aussie batsmen unable to read him. Captain Smith in scoring 111, once again proved that the Australian batting revolved around him. Warner (56) and Wade (57) were the other batsmen to score.
India in their turn totaled 332 after being 6 for 221 at which point Saha was dropped by Renshaw, a straight forward catch at first slip. This proved to be a costly miss as Saha and Jadeja had a partnership of 96 runs. Had this chance been taken, Australia would have been in a position to bowl India out for 250 giving them a psychological advantage going into their second innings.
The Indian bowlers made full use of the momentum shift in their favour and bowled Australia out for 137 runs with Umesh Yadav, Ashwin and Jadeja taking 3 wickets each. This left India to score 106 runs for victory on the final day. Rahul 51* and Rahane 38* steered India to a well deserved victory by 8 wickets.
In the final analysis, this series was a highly competitive one, where Australia failed to capitalize on winning the toss and batting first in three of the tests, to post totals which could have put pressure on the Indian batting. On pitches where the ball takes spin increasingly as the game progresses, it is difficult for opposing batsmen to cope with spinners who bowl with a lot of guile and consistency. Team India has been able to win Series against New Zealand, England, Bangaladesh and Australia at home, due to this reason.
