India’s batting debacle against Australia on the third day of the pink Test in Adelaide has become a major topic of discussion. Rarely has a team that performed so well on the first two days of a Test has faced such a disastrous outing on the 3rd day. While several experts are trying to figure out what went wrong and what were the reasons behind India’s horror batting show in the 2nd innings of first Test, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes it might be the mindset with which the Indians went out to bat on Saturday which may have cost them the game.
Latif recalled the 2002 Test against Australia in which Pakistan were bowled out for 59 and 53 against Australia at Sharjah. Legendary spinner Shane Warne had picked 8 wickets (4 in each innings) in the match to destroy the Pakistani batting. The Aussies, led by Steve Waugh, had won the match by an innings and 198 runs. Latif said that there are days when bowlers tend to hit the right spot most of the times.
“These things happen; there are days when the bowlers just hit the right spot 100 percent of the time and the edges go straight to fielders. I think the collapse occurred because the Indian batsmen perhaps came out with a mindset to attack the bowling and dominate,” news agency PTI quoted Latif as saying
“But the pitch changed its behaviour and I think on the first two days, it had some spongy bounce and was a bit slow, but then, the pitch had hardened up a bit and the ball skidded beautifully for the bowlers, which is why all the edges went into the fielders,” Latif added.
The former Pakistan captain explained what went wrong with captain Kohli in the 2nd innings, who played a sensible knock of 74 runs in the first innings.
“Virat Kohli played a very sensible knock in the first innings but the second time around, with wickets falling so quickly at the other end, even he was tempted to chase a wide one to get runs on the board. It must have been a nightmare for Kohli to see his team bowled out for just 36 runs,” Latif added.
India and Australia will meet again at MCG in the Boxing Day Test.
