Outgunned, outclassed

Everyone has gone bananas. India has beaten Australia in the second test and beaten them comfortably.

Any informed cricket spectator would have told you that it was expected.
Australia headed into this series with a transitional line-up, no spinner, no McGrath (Who arguably still had psychological holds over some batsmen), and undoubtedly a more fragile psyche than we’ve seen from historic Australian sides.

Following the hysteria and controversy of the Sydney test earlier this year, Australia went out in Perth noticeably meeker than usual. Perhaps they have met their match with a team that has taken inspiration to play with strong aggression.

To put it quite simply, Australia were outplayed by a better team. India is a better team on paper, and in Mohali they were vastly superior on the field. The only criticism I can make of India is that they should have scored 900 on the pitch in the first innings. Australia did well to bowl them out for less than 500+.

No-one expected Australia to win this series and they undoubtedly surprised people with their spirited show in Bengaluru, probably winning the majority of that test. There was no such inadequacy from India in Mohali.

As India has clamped down on Australia, the poor standard of umpiring has flown under the radar. Shane Watson got away with the most obvious LBW since cricket began. And Australia had a critical decision go against them when a stumping for Ganguly was not referred to the third umpire, replays proving he was out. Ganguly was in the 30’s at the time and went on to 102.
India is likely to win this series in what will be a swansong for their older generation, and then the challenge for India begins as they have to cover for their fab four and Anil Kumble (Although Amit Mishra seems like an excellent replacement).

A win against Australia at home will be a great moment for them, but at the end of the series, Australia will likely remain the number one side and will remain so until they get knocked off at home, which hasn’t happened since 92-93.

Exciting times.