MCG Rout: India Has Answers, But It Is Not Willing To Take Them

In what was a sentimentally mixed result, India lost the famous Boxing Day Test in Melbourne by 184 runs.

The loss was somewhat on expected lines, but the way Indian batting collapsed was uncharacteristic of the grit that our cricket team has been known for showing in Australia in the last decade.

The series now stands at 2-1 in favour of Australia, and the chances that India will qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Temba Bavuma-led South African team have slimmed.

The upcoming Sydney Test — coming after a very quick turnaround time — is a do-or-die moment for India, not only for the WTC but also for retaining its hold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).

Experts have analysed the immediate cause of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) debacle, and these are mostly about rash shots, poor defence, poor strategy, and relying too much on a few big guns in the team.

A video clip in which batting great and commentator Sunil Gavaskar is extremely frustrated with Rishabh Pant’s shot selection has gone viral. Gavaskar was given a free hand by his fellow commentators for venting out, and he criticised Pant for not playing as per the game situation.

Gavaskar was also not happy with the way Yashasvi Jaiswal was given out when the snickometre showed no murmurs whatsoever, but that dismissal was diffused by captain Rohit Sharma’s acceptance of a slight nick when he was batting.

Likewise, Sharma’s shot selection, Kohli’s lack of discipline, and Jaiswal’s struggle against outswingers are among the concerns pointed out by various experts.

There are some macro answers that might overshadow some of these particular weaknesses and infuse a sense of confidence in the setup. The Indian team has, however, long played silent on some issues.

One big positive for India this series is the recognition of the fact that K L Rahul is currently the best in India for the opening spot. He has a solid defence, backed by crunching drives and a sense to pick which ball to attack and which to defend.

Having the defence of a Murali Vijay and the shot-making of a Virendra Sehwag, Rahul keeps bowlers in two minds about his intent. It is almost as if Rahul’s natural game is more suited for when the bowler is fresh and coming out hard against the batsmen.

Rahul is one of the few outliers in this Indian setup who is comfortable in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries. In fact, it was in Sydney that he scored his first Test century in the 2014-15 version of the BGT.

Rahul is one of those players who can walk on broken glass if his team would like him to, much like a Rahul of the past, Rahul Dravid. He never pushed for a favourite spot, which is why the team management switched up his batting position often, in effect never allowing him to settle into a batting slot.

However, his batting averages at different positions (minimum 10 innings) indicate that it is opening the batting that Rahul enjoys the most.

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan pointed out that every batsman has different entry triggers, and Rahul seems to not like waiting. That was evident in this series too, but when Sharma made a comeback, Rahul was asked to make way for Sharma's return to the opening slot after a couple of tests.

Sharma’s lazy elegance and late footwork make him vulnerable to fresh bowlers early in the innings, especially in SENA countries. In Melbourne, he struggled to check the accuracy of his favourite shot, the pull, too.

Ultimately, the change in batting order was neither conducive to Rahul nor Sharma.

While Rahul is suffering from a lack of opportunity, Kohli’s problem is that of an excess of it. He was a stalwart of the Test team for more than half a decade. But in the last five years, his Test match form has slumped — except for a rare 2023 uptick for eight Test matches in which he averaged 55.91. Apart from that period, his average has struggled to go past 28.21.

The two centuries that he scored in the last five years of his Test career (before BGT 2024-25) came in the year 2023.

That would be an ordinary record for the average player, forget someone of the stature of Kohli. Kohli's repeated selection is down to his recent surge in form in the limited overs and seniority in the setup.

His extended slump should have come as a warning sign for selectors, but they did not treat it as such. That being said, there is also not a single player ready to jump into Kohli's spot the way Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane once replaced Dravid and V V S Laxman.

The number 4 slot isn’t just a batting position. It’s the fulcrum that holds the batting innings together. To dismiss the importance of grooming a specialist for this role is a strategic oversight that may haunt the team.

In domestic cricket, India has technically fine batsmen like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, and Nitish Reddy, among others. All these players have made a name in the T20 circuit, but they also possess a good blend of power and defence.

Reddy has shown glimpses of his remarkable talent in this BGT with a few scintillating innings — one of which was a hard-fought, counter-attacking century while batting with the lower order.

The other contenders similarly need international match experience to be at ease with the pace and temperament on display at the highest level of the game.

Promoting Reddy to number 4 in the Sydney Test could at least kick in a process that might yield a better future for India.

In the fast-bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah has performed according to expectations. His fragile body delivered 320 deliveries in Melbourne and is expected to load up for more.

The other pacers, like Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj, only played second fiddle, with a few blips of sub-par (not brilliant) bowling.

While Bumrah’s all-round display troubled the batsmen, a skilful bowler was required from the other end to capitalise on the situation. Australia, for instance, used bowlers like Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, who move balls off the seam in both directions, while Cummins and Hazlewood provided the hard bounce off the surface.

Back home, India has one such option — Mohammed Shami. Shami has not played a single match after the tragic loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final. His recovery has been on track and was visible in his comeback against Madhya Pradesh in the second week of November — where he bowled 43 overs and picked seven wickets. Later, he played seven T20 games in 13 days.

However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to take it slow with his comeback. Even during the series, Sharma was seeking clarification from the National Cricket Academy about Shami's fitness. Shami’s age is playing a big part in the calls being made about his selection.

Lastly, India’s approach to is also something that baffles the cricketing sense. India went for a draw on the final day of the Test match in Melbourne. This is not a bad strategy per se, but it requires batsmen like Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Pujara, and Alastair Cook to be batting out there. “These men just bat, bat, and bat,” as is often said of them.

Defensive batsmen take blows on their shoulders, take a confident stride out still to defend the very next ball, leave the deliveries heading outside off stump, and punch back when it’s comfortable to do so. In this way, a batting inning revolves around their defensive approach.

This Indian setup has no batsman of that kind. Most of the current players have an attacking instinct — even Rahul, who is technically the most sound batsman in the squad at present. Younger players like Jaiswal also take the offensive route when in trouble, as witnessed in the last innings’ struggle against Starc.

The leader of this pack is Captain Sharma, whose attacking game has shaped Indian cricket’s journey in the last two years. The pitch was not bad either. Going for a win was a wonderful opportunity for Sharma and Co to keep their chances and heads high. Instead, the team went for the less favourable option of drawing the Test match.

While defending, India was at a paltry 33 for 3 after 27 overs. Despite that, it had seven wickets in hand for the last 228 balls (out of a possible 552 balls), but lost them in Harakiri.

The MCG defeat serves as a wake-up call for Indian cricket. The solutions to their problems are evident; the question is whether they have the will to implement the solutions.

In cricket, as in life, knowing the answers is only half the battle — acting on them is what truly matters.

Beating Australia with skills is not difficult. It is the mind game that makes them tough opponents. India can only succeed against them if it plays without pressure — just like Rahane and Bumrah did when they captained parts of the 2021 and 2024-25 BGT series, respectively.