After almost nine months, India resumed bilateral cricket with the ODI series against Australia on Friday at the Sydney Cricket Ground. But it was all struggle in the middle for them as right from the toss, nothing went their way on the day and the Indian team had themselves to blame for the same. India players did some sloppy fielding and it seemed as if they hadn’t trained for a long time and hence Australia managed to amass 374 runs in their quota of 50 overs.
From the word go, the Australian openers, Aaron Finch and David Warner started smashing the bowlers as they stitched a very good opening stand. They were cautious for the first few overs taking stock of the conditions and then rotated strike smartly by just tapping the ball. And the Indian fielders looked a bit under-prepared as they could never stop singles which kept the scoreboard ticking. As the Australian opening partnership grew, Finch and Warner opened up to add 156 runs in 27.5 overs.
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The latter got out after 69 runs but what followed was a complete massacred by the Australian batsmen. India would’ve hoped to have controlled the flow of runs but Steve Smith had other ideas. He batted as if he was doing it in the dressing room for hours. There was no respite for the visitors at all with the former Australia skipper tonking the ball all over the park and India were kind to him with the fielding as the players were consistently dropping sitters.
Smith and Finch managed to add a partnership of 108 runs in just over 12 overs to leave the opposition flustered. The Indian bowlers were looking flabergasted as the fielders didn’t hold on to their catches as well and the bowlers were made to pay heavily. Meanwhile, the Aussie skipper scored a stunning century while Smith also matched him to get to the three-figure mark.
But the worse was yet to come for India. After picking Finch’s wicket, Marcus Stoinis was dismissed for a golden duck. This was a chance for Virat Kohli and his men to make some sort of a comeback. But again, they let Glenn Maxwell off the hook by dropping his catch early in the innings. Hardik Pandya was the culprit in the 43rd over off Yuzvendra Chahal where he dropped him at long-off.
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For some strange reasons, Hardik walked in a little too much and ended up parrying the ball over the boundary. Maxwell then played a reverse sweep which outrageously went for a six and just toyed with the bowlers. His 19-ball 45 gave Australia the much-needed momentum with around 7-8 overs to go and that led to the hosts posting 374 runs for the loss of six wickets after 50 overs.
India have fielded like kids today. Very very average
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) November 27, 2020
India’s over rate is appalling … !!! Body language defensive … fielding is my standard (shocking) … Bowling ordinary !!! Aussies on the other hand have been outstanding … Long tour for India me thinks … #AUSvIND @FoxCricket @cricbuzz !!!
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 27, 2020
India’s fielding has been quite ordinary today. Hope it’s a one-off. #AusvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 27, 2020
You know it’s your day when a fielder like #RAVINDRAJADEJA misses a straight forward runout! Congratulations #AaronFinch well played #AUSvIND
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) November 27, 2020
.@klrahul11 behind the stumps right now#Maxwell #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/R2EO0872uv
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) November 27, 2020
Lotta runs conceded Square of the wicket by #TeamIndia which means the lines employed by the Indian bowlers could be under focus #AUSvIND #CricitwithBadri
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) November 27, 2020
Retro kits or not, India's bowling and fielding in the first ODI has definitely been a throwback to the 90s.#AUSvIND
— Saket Parekar (@saketparekar) November 27, 2020
The fielding has been disappointing.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 27, 2020
