Pat Cummins’ team suffered a huge 295-run defeat to India in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Perth.
After Australia struggled with ball in hand on Thursday, with Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring centuries for the tourists, a win for the hosts looked increasingly further away.
Starting the fourth day with 12 runs for three wickets, it looked like a tough task for Australia, but their batting collapse appeared to continue into Monday morning, after Pat Cummins, Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney, who arrived at the crease on Sunday in the afternoon. They were all fired.
Despite an inspired 89 from Travis Head and 47 runs from Mitchell Marsh, Australia conceded the first Test in Perth posting a score of 238 in the second innings.
It has been a tough week for Australia’s batsmen after the Baggy Greens struggled to score runs on a quick wicket, with Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj dominating the Perth pitch.
Meanwhile, Australia’s bowlers endured a day to forget on Sunday as they battled their way to India’s top spots, with the tourists declaring after setting the hosts a target of 534 runs.
Questions have been raised over Labuschagne’s form after the match, after the No.3 was sent off lbw on Sunday afternoon in the fifth delivery he faced.
The Glamorgan and Queensland batsman had not even offered a shot, before a ball from Siraj found him staggering outside his crease, before hitting him squarely on the pads.
He would later review the decision, which many fans online thought was correct, and the television match officials agreed with the on-field decision.
“Labuschagne got it terribly wrong,” James Brayshaw said in Channel Seven’s coverage.
Former Test bowler Damien Fleming offered his opinion on the dismissal on SEN, stating: “You can handle a shot at a good ball and get an outside edge.”
‘That kind of dismissal is simply not good enough from your number 3 in a tough battle.
“He had good length, he was just outside the off stump, he didn’t do anything extreme.”
Australian cricket journalist Peter Lalor stated that it was “inexplicable” that Labuschagne, 30, did not attempt to use his bat to defend himself from the delivery.
SEN commentator and Footy broadcasting legend Gerard Whateley claimed his error in judgment shows he has “lost technique” before questioning the Australian No 3’s credentials in the Test side.
‘You can’t go out without the intention of using your bat. “It’s a great symbol of where he is in his game,” Whateley said.
“He will have to be relieved of his place on the team.”
Reflecting on the result, Cummins, who had been dismissed for two runs on Sunday night, claimed things simply did not go his team’s way in Perth.
“Pretty disappointing,” Cummins told Fox Cricket after the match. ‘We thought our initial preparation was really good.
“It was one of those games where a lot of things didn’t go well. So (we have) a lot to analyze for next week.
Australia will now have an 11-day break before returning to face India in Adelaide, and when asked if the break will be beneficial in helping Australia turn things around, Cummins said: “It is what it is.”
“After a loss you always want to get back on the horse pretty quickly, but we’ll rest for a couple of days and get to Adelaide and I think we’ll have a good preparation for that test.”
Coming into the Test, big question marks revolved around who could feature in Australia’s top order against India, with McSweeney, 25, being drafted in to partner Khawaja as Australia’s openers.
But with Smith also struggling, being dismissed for 17 runs on Monday, big question marks revolve around where Australia will score.
Asked by Adam Gilchrist if Australia’s top teams are currently secure in their positions, Cummins said: “There’s a lot of experience there, this summer is a sample size of one.”
“They’re doing it and they’re doing it very well, but there’s no doubt we have some work to do.”
‘This week I’m sure there will be a lot of conversations. A lot of time on the networks. If we ran into a similar attack under similar conditions, what things could we have done a little better?
More to follow…