India vs Australia: Visitors thrash hosts; here are four fallouts of Pune Test

Australia thrashed India by 333 runs to take 1-0 lead in the four-match series courtesy O’Keefe’s brilliant 12 wickets match tally on Saturday. 

An Indian team which toyed with all their opponents right through this home summer was decimated by the ‘underdog’ Aussies. On a dry, turning pitch that should have suited India’s spinners, Steven Smith scored the only hundred of the match and Steve O’Keefe took as many wickets as R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took. 

The match aggregate of 212 runs for India is the least in a home Test, the previous lowest being 247 vs England in 1977. Here we look at some of the failed strategies-

# Batting failed to fire as a collective unit

The Batting unit failed to fire up collectively to fend off a potent Australian seam attack upfront. Indian batsmen should have blend aggression with caution by displaying mental fortitude and technical acumen so as to avoid a middle order collapse.

# Fielding standards were way below Test standards

You can’t drop catches if you are playing a test match against Australia. The Indian fielders should have displayed athleticism and grabbed every opportunity to dismiss the visitors. Half chances should have been converted to compliment and lift the morale of the bowling unit.

# Indian bowlers inability to dislodge the tail

The Indian bowlers should have learned something from their Australians counterparts. Indian bowlers should have to put their variations into full effect and not bowl lose deliveries to the lower order, for them to slog.

# Overdependency on Virat Kohli

The seasoned batsmen in Murali Vijay, Cheteshwara Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane with loads of experience should have assumed greater responsibility in stitching the innings together in bowling friendly tracks as presented in Pune but they failed miserably.