Edged and gone! – India stare down the barrel of bounce

Albeit from a small sample size of three matches spread over six years, Optus Stadium had been a relatively low-scoring ODI venue before the coin was flipped in Perth on Sunday, with both captains wanting to field first given the rain factor. It continued to be the case, with Australia gunning down the DLS-adjusted target of 131 to open their account not only in the series but also at the ground. While local lads Mitchell Marsh and Josh Philippe rode the bounce with consummate ease, the ball frequented the splice of the Indian willows after taking off from the drop-in pitch that was hosting its first fixture of the season.

The sharp rise engulfed the top four, and the task of recovering the momentum from zilch was made harder by the heavens opening up every now and then. The frequent pauses kept Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood fresh as a daisy, and their frontloading restricted India to 50/4 at the halfway mark with the weather shaving off 18 overs from the action in an innings at that stage. For Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who were gracing international cricket after eight months, wealth of experience in Australian conditions could not upstage the lack of miles under their legs. For Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, the nature of dismissal was soft, but the fact remained that acclimatisation to the springy decks is going to be India’s toughest challenge on this tour.

If the tracks prepared for the upcoming clashes offer anywhere near the same degree of lateral movement, India could be in for a ride. Starc rapped Rohit on the pads with an inswinger before Hazlewood cut him into half by a good-length delivery that jagged back in with a venomousness that rivalled the Black Mamba’s. It was an anxious time for the resurgent pro, culminating in an uppish drive that just cleared cover point. He wanted to latch onto an effort ball from Hazlewood only to miss his bread-and-butter shot, the frontfoot pull.

An off-drive versus Starc notwithstanding, Rohit, on comeback trail, was itching to stamp his authority. So was Kohli, batting on nought, having faced seven dots. Lifters sent either packing, with a thick edge flying to backward point and a backfoot defence handing Matt Renshaw, at second slip, the first of his four catching opportunities on the day. Unless and until you’ve been living under a rock, there’s no need to spoonfeed who went driving carelessly among the two behemoths.

Gill’s departure, which left India tottering at 25/3 inside the PowerPlay – their second worst since 2023, was the only one in the collapse that could be consigned to dumb luck. He redeemed himself after an ordinary Asia Cup through a fifty and a hundred against West Indies, while the elevation to ODI leadership added a spring to his step that reflected in the couple of handsome boundaries he hit early on. Add his compact single-inducing blocks to the mix, and there were promising signs that a captain’s knock is on the horizon. Trudging off, the ironic smile on his face said it all, as Nathan Ellis strangled him down the leg immediately upon his introduction into the attack. The wicket of Iyer, although identical, had an element of strategy at its core.

Having conceded a boundary off the last ball of his previous over, via a rasping square cut, Hazlewood thought of altering his line and length to target the ribcage of Iyer. The idea was to cut out any width as well as put a finger on a healing nerve, his tackling of the short stuff. Adopting an exaggeratedly open-chested stance and then employing the back-and-across trigger to settle deep into his crease, Iyer got a faint tickle trying to fend away the steepler. Across all formats, including domestic games, this was the seventh time in 13 innings the middle-order bulwark had fallen to Hazlewood, whose discipline allowed India as few as three boundaries in the PowerPlay.

‘’When you lose three wickets in the powerplay, you’re always trying to play a catch-up game,’’ Gill admitted. It was an excruciating gut punch, so much so that despite thirties by Axar Patel and KL Rahul and an ideal cameo to boot by Nitish Reddy India posted a below-par 136/9 in 26 overs, paving the way for their first defeat in ODIs in 2025 and snapping their golden run of eight consecutive victories in the format.

Although their batting display left a lot to be desired, India will take heart from their fast-bowling operation that had Australia in an absolute pickle on occasions. Travis Head’s propensity to flash at the mere sight of width was exploited by Arshdeep Singh, thanks to the awareness of moving third man a lot squarer. Mohammed Siraj went under six an over himself and also helped Washington Sundar’s economy with an excellent save on the rope, while the high pace and wicked deviation on some of Harshit Rana’s thunderbolts served as a validatory tick for the management’s faith in his abilities. ‘’There were a lot of learnings and positives as well. Defending 130 in 26 odd overs, we took the game pretty deep so we’re satisfied with that,’’ Gill said.

Renshaw showed an affinity for the reverse-cup catching technique but towards the end of the Indian innings when he was forced to point the fingers upwards, or at least keep them parallel to the turf, the chance went begging. It had an adverse effect on Matthew Kuhnemann’s figures, for Reddy exhibited his finishing skills in the ultimate over with two magnificent strikes into the crowd – more than 50,000 tickets were sold – that received applause from skippers on either side for sticking through the exasperating rain delays.