Khawaja finds calm during the ‘storm’

Express News Service

INDORE: It’s the fifth ball of the first over of the Australian innings. Usman Khawaja is at the striker’s end, facing Ravichandran Ashwin, a spinner who likes bowling to left-handers. The line is all wrong but he almost edges it to the keeper while attempting a flick. It’s the last ball of the sixth over. Ravindra Jadeja has already snaffled Travis Head and likes this leg before appeal. So Rohit Sharma sends it upstairs but it’s not the greatest referral in the world. The last ball of the 10th over shows the demons on the pitch are intact. Jadeja pitches one well outside off but it spins sharply before hitting Khawaja in line. Yet, the ball was going to miss leg.

In between all that, Khawaja kept picking up singles. In the first 10 overs, with India having no choice but to go in search of wickets, there were gaps. The ball, whenever it was pitched on a good length area, was doing too much. So, they went too full after readjusting. Whenever they went full, the 36-year-old was waiting, punching them down the ground or opening the face of the blade for singles. In the first 13 overs, he had quietly made his way to 16 with 10 singles and three twos. His first four, giving an overpitched Axar Patel delivery the treatment it was calling out for, came off his 45th ball.

His innings portrayed a sense of inner calm; like a monk on holiday. While India did eventually remove him it was not before he made a significant contribution. His patient of 60 off 147 (four fours) has helped Australia go into the lead at stumps on Day 1. They lead by 47 — it’s not much but on a raging turner where every ball is an event — it could already prove substantial. This was exactly the sort of innings they needed after the shambles at New Delhi. “Played to my plans,” he told the host broadcaster at the end of the day. “Tried to score when there was an opportunity and kept out the good balls. Not rocket science, honestly. Not an easy wicket, spin-friendly. It felt tough and I don’t expect it to get better.”
While Khawaja looked largely untroubled, some of the other batters faced similar issues. Marnus Labuschagne was leg-before but India opted against a referral. Jadeja also bowled him but had overstepped.  

Don’t think they got enough time to prepare: Rathour

Did it get better for Australia to bat on after the first session? While balls continued to spit and jump like a rattled cobra, batting coach Vikram Rathour reckoned the pitch may have become a touch slower. “It did more than we expected it to,” he said after the first day’s play. “It felt like that (pitch becoming a touch slower during Australia’s innings). But to give credit to them, they bowled very well.”

However, he was quick to exonerate India’s batters. “There was lots of sharp turn but I don’t think anybody played poor cricket, nobody got out to rash shots. It’s just one of those days where the batting unit had an off day. Today (Wednesday) was a little drier than we expected but they hardly got time to prepare (the wicket). Don’t think they got enough time.” However, he defended the decision to play on turners. “We prefer to play on spinning tracks, that’s our strength.” Using home advantage is well and good but a lottery pitch like the one at the Holkar Stadium actually reduces the gap between two teams. India only need to jog their memory back to 2017 when the visitors beat the hosts at Pune on a similar kind of wicket.
If Australia can get to around 250 on Thursday, a similar result could be in the offing.  

<br /> INDORE: It’s the fifth ball of the first over of the Australian innings. Usman Khawaja is at the striker’s end, facing Ravichandran Ashwin, a spinner who likes bowling to left-handers. The line is all wrong but he almost edges it to the keeper while attempting a flick. It’s the last ball of the sixth over. Ravindra Jadeja has already snaffled Travis Head and likes this leg before appeal. So Rohit Sharma sends it upstairs but it’s not the greatest referral in the world. The last ball of the 10th over shows the demons on the pitch are intact. Jadeja pitches one well outside off but it spins sharply before hitting Khawaja in line. Yet, the ball was going to miss leg.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>In between all that, Khawaja kept picking up singles. In the first 10 overs, with India having no choice but to go in search of wickets, there were gaps. The ball, whenever it was pitched on a good length area, was doing too much. So, they went too full after readjusting. Whenever they went full, the 36-year-old was waiting, punching them down the ground or opening the face of the blade for singles. In the first 13 overs, he had quietly made his way to 16 with 10 singles and three twos. His first four, giving an overpitched Axar Patel delivery the treatment it was calling out for, came off his 45th ball.</p> <p>His innings portrayed a sense of inner calm; like a monk on holiday. While India did eventually remove him it was not before he made a significant contribution. His patient of 60 off 147 (four fours) has helped Australia go into the lead at stumps on Day 1. They lead by 47 — it’s not much but on a raging turner where every ball is an event — it could already prove substantial. This was exactly the sort of innings they needed after the shambles at New Delhi. “Played to my plans,” he told the host broadcaster at the end of the day. “Tried to score when there was an opportunity and kept out the good balls. Not rocket science, honestly. Not an easy wicket, spin-friendly. It felt tough and I don’t expect it to get better.”<br /> While Khawaja looked largely untroubled, some of the other batters faced similar issues. Marnus Labuschagne was leg-before but India opted against a referral. Jadeja also bowled him but had overstepped.  Don’t think they got enough time to prepare: Rathourgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Did it get better for Australia to bat on after the first session? While balls continued to spit and jump like a rattled cobra, batting coach Vikram Rathour reckoned the pitch may have become a touch slower. “It did more than we expected it to,” he said after the first day’s play. “It felt like that (pitch becoming a touch slower during Australia’s innings). But to give credit to them, they bowled very well.”</p> <p>However, he was quick to exonerate India’s batters. “There was lots of sharp turn but I don’t think anybody played poor cricket, nobody got out to rash shots. It’s just one of those days where the batting unit had an off day. Today (Wednesday) was a little drier than we expected but they hardly got time to prepare (the wicket). Don’t think they got enough time.” However, he defended the decision to play on turners. “We prefer to play on spinning tracks, that’s our strength.” Using home advantage is well and good but a lottery pitch like the one at the Holkar Stadium actually reduces the gap between two teams. India only need to jog their memory back to 2017 when the visitors beat the hosts at Pune on a similar kind of wicket.<br /> If Australia can get to around 250 on Thursday, a similar result could be in the offing.  <br />