India crumbled without their leadership, with lone warrior Bumrah on their shoulders
India faced a tough challenge as they crumbled without strong leadership. Jasprit Bumrah emerged as the lone warrior, shouldering the team's
Jasprit Bumrah sat there in his whites. His head was bowed, his shoulders slouched. There was nothing he could do now. There was nothing India could do now. Australia needed 15 runs to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And India's nemesis, Travis Head, was, as always, leading Australia's charge to thwart their faint hopes of levelling the series.
Bumrah loved nothing more than to be out. India loved nothing more than to have Bumrah out. But after five gruelling Tests, where he carried the visitors on his back, his back had given way. It was certainly a guess that it was his back. Maybe it was a side strain. Maybe it was something else. But we will never know.
The fact was that after weeks of relying on Bumrah to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India were left to make their final push without their only warrior.
For nearly seven weeks, India's hopes had rested on Bumrah's shoulders. Now they were gone. To their credit, the Indian newcomer bowlers had created openings in the absence of their talisman. Little more than an opening.
But the legs were tired. So were the minds. One cannot blame Mohammad Siraj or the young Prasidh Krishna, who is still trying to figure out whether he is at this level. Virat Kohli also tried his best from the slips, hinted at bowling in the outside channel and did what he could as a 'captain'. But then he couldn't bowl for them, although Krishna improved, started hitting the deck and found more or less the right channel. But Siraj couldn't find his radar despite trying hard. The small target didn't help either. In a blink of an eye, the chase was not only going on, it had reached a point where Kohli too had to keep quiet.
Think a little bit about Kohli. When he set off for this series, he must have known that this was his last Test series in Australia, where he had built his name, reputation and a following that greatly respected and, dare I say, even liked him for his personality. But after the second innings in Perth, his bat deserted him and he could not get it back despite his best efforts. In the nets, he worked as hard as ever, trying various variations. Standing outside the crease, standing inside, moving back, pressing forward, but the demon lay in his hands which could not withstand the stab of an outside delivery.
This was Kohli's last dance on Australian soil. It did not work out for him with the bat. He had walked out the previous evening with a heavy heart in his chest in what was to be his last Test innings in a country he always loved to bat in. But he had to leave the crease, cursing himself in a Test in Australia for the last time. Such is life.
But he had Sunday to himself. Perhaps he can work some magic as a leader, make the Indian bowlers forget that Bumrah wasn't there. So that they can do something on their own. Just as they did on Saturday when Bumrah left.
But perhaps he knew that outside inspiration wouldn't last long. Not for two days in a row. Not when the bowlers are rested. Not when their legs and minds aren't working. Not when there's real match pressure. Not when the finish line is near. Kohli tried but at some point in the afternoon, even he must have realised that he can't do anything beyond his control.
Especially when Travis Head is in the middle. The man who knows how to get the Indians out at big moments. Especially when Usman Khawaja knows Bumrah isn't here and has enough of a chance to knock for once in this series. And he does, cutting his hips, flicking his legs, and cutting behind the dot. Those shots tell us that the bowling radar wasn't great but Khawaja understandably took it with glee. Although he fell, tried to pull Siraj and did little, Australia still had 31-year-old Test debutant Beau Webster, who replaced Mitch Marsh and who had already hit a fifty in the first innings. He pulled, cut, punched and, as he would later say, “counted the runs remaining” while being completely “confident” that the chase was under control. And it was. Even Kohli couldn’t do anything.
And finally the moment came: Webster charged down the track to smash Washington Sundar over mid-off. Webster screamed, Head lost his head, Pat Cummins ran out of the dressing room to celebrate with Steve Smith, who will now have to wait for his 10,000th run in Galle, Sri Lanka, later this month, but that was probably the last thought on Australia’s mind at that moment
