When Visakhapatnam woke as much as heavy rain on Sunday morning, all issues pointed to a rain-curtailed contest on the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. With forecasts of rain until sundown, the capability crowd had come from completely different elements of Andhra hoping they might get at the least a 20-over contest. In the tip the second ODI didn’t even final 40 overs or watch for sundown. Thanks to Mitchell Starc’s fiery opening spell and a five-wicket haul (5/53), Australia blew away India for 117 in 26 overs, and their openers chased down the goal in 11 overs at hand Rohit & Co their largest defeat in ODIs by way of balls remaining.

It is the type of defeat that ought to undoubtedly open outdated wounds for India, the place their batting unit’s struggles in opposition to left-arm pacers continued. Speaking later, Rohit – at the least in public — refused to learn an excessive amount of into it, as an alternative saying “right-armers have troubled us too, but nobody talks about it” to minimize the struggles. But, there’s undoubtedly a sample that’s rising which could have left Dravid engrossed within the thought, notably when they may face comparable bowlers on the World Cup later this 12 months.

It just isn’t one thing that isn’t misplaced amongst opposition groups. Since 2019, six pacers have taken 5-wicket haul in opposition to India and out of those 4 are left-armers – Reece Topley, Trent Boult, Mustafizur Rahman and Starc. At the World Cup, aside from the 4, India will even encounter Shaheen Shah Afridi and Marco Jansen, each having troubled them. Almost all groups barring Sri Lanka and West Indies have a left-arm pacer that may transfer the brand new ball.

Simple plan

On a pitch that had been below covers for twenty-four hours due to persistent rain, there was sufficient moisture in it for Steve Smith to win the toss and bowl first. Australia’s bowler’s plan was easy: Keep it full and let the ball transfer. And from the second Starc eliminated Shubman Gill within the first over to a free shot, driving airily, India’s slide started.

In the transient second that Rohit and Virat Kohi have been collectively – including 29 crisp runs in 4 overs – it regarded as if the capability crowd could be handled to a run feast. It was the transient interval Starc and Cameron Green have been a bit wayward. But as soon as Starc discovered his rhythm, he had Rohit edge to first slip with one which moved away. Off the following ball, he had Suryakumar Yadav LBW once more with a one which curled again in after pitching within the center and off-stump line. By the time he moved KL Rahul with a carbon copy dismissal of Suryakumar, India have been 48/4 in 8.4 overs. At the tip of the primary powerplay, the rating learn 49/5 after Smith pulled off a surprising one-handed full-stretch catch to dismiss Hardik Pandya off Sean Abbott’s bowling.

It was as if India selected to replay what unfolded on the Wankhede Stadium. Just like how everybody through the T20 World Cup opener in Dubai have been anticipating Afridi to ship down a yorker to Rohit first-up, right here at Vizag on Sunday, you knew what Starc was going to do. “I have been doing the same thing for 14 years now,” he would chuckle. Coincidentally, Starc was the most costly bowler too, however Australia wouldn’t thoughts. He has been given the licence to assault and along with his inventory supply to get wickets being the fuller-one, the margin of error is simply too small, and is certain to offer batters straightforward runs via a flick or a drive. But when he will get it proper, Starc is aware of he would see the again of most batsmen.

Inflexible pondering

India ought to have recognized by now. It was not a case of their batting unit being undone by a rare spell. It was extra a case of India not respecting the circumstances in addition to a pacer with the skillset to take advantage of it. Rohit implied as a lot: “We didn’t apply ourselves, you know, even when you lose a couple of wickets early, it’s important to create that partnership so that you can get back into the game.”

Speaking of failures, it is usually pertinent to boost how inflexible they’re when the scenario calls for them to be versatile. With Starc going full throttle, they may have despatched both Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel to disrupt the rhythm of Australia’s bowlers. In the earlier match, after India have been diminished to 83/5 whereas chasing 189, Rahul spoke about how Jadeja’s arrival helped them break the shackles. The scenario offered itself once more, however they didn’t implement their classes. And this time Australia weren’t in a temper to let the match slip away from their palms.