Deconstructed: India's batting downturn during Australia tour

India hit more 6s, but unlike in the past, they scored lower in playing out time and stitching partnerships

- Somshuvra Laha

KOLKATA: Bounce in Australia lost some of its fear factor once thicker bats, shorter boundaries and the advent of T20 cricket started validating getting out in pursuit of swinging out in Test cricket. Still, Australia has possibly some of the fairest surfaces in the world. When timed sweetly, the Kookaburra balls can stay hit for boundaries. And if they are slowed down by heavy outfields, at least the grounds are still big enough to tempt the batters into running for three. Barring a few innings however, India's batting this time reflected very little of those time-honoured practices.

Which is perplexing, because the same core batting group had performed exceptionally well on the previous three tours of Australia.

Where did they falter? Poor shot selection, failure to bat multiple sessions and not stitching enough partnerships are the primary reasons. But let's deconstruct the downfall. That India weren't prepared for New Zealand at home was apparent in the way Mitchell Santner was spinning yarns around their top batters in an unprecedented 0-3 defeat last October. But this was Australia, where India were a different beast during the 2018-19 and 2020-21 series.