India vs Australia, World Cup 2023: Team India school ill-prepared Aussies in unforgiving conditions

If well begun is really half done then Australian cricketers would have had nightmares Sunday night after they suffered a six-wicket defeat to hosts India in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In contrast, Rohit Sharma and his men would have surely enjoyed a good sleep after seeing their hard work result in a clinical win in the World Cup opener.

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With the victory on Sunday, Team India set the tone for the tournament and in the process sent a message to the other challengers and pretenders of how mighty they can be in home conditions. Australia? Well, they have some strong questions to confront about their approach, squad and preparations with the majority of league games still to be played.

The build-up around the India vs Australia game largely revolved around the fact that it pits the favourites against the five-time champions. From the broadcasters to the fans, everyone was hoping for a full house at Chepauk and a tightly contested match on the pitch.



In the end, we had quite a lot of empty seats and a one-sided victory for India with a few moments of scare.

Australia won the toss and opted to bat instead of allowing India to set a target. They opted to bat amid hot and humid conditions instead of choosing to bat under the lights when it usually spins less and dew also comes into play. Pat Cummins’ decision must have been influenced by the March ODI played at the same venue between the same sides when Australia batted first and Adam Zampa successfully imparted spin bowling second as the Aussies won by 21 runs.

Australia’s baffling batting

But on Sunday, batting first proved to be a disaster. Partly because of India’s spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav who bowled excellent Test match lengths on a surface that gripped and spun from the very start, but partly also because of the approach of the Aussies batters which exposed their lack of preparation for the conditions.

Mitchell Marsh was the first one to depart as he became a victim of Jasprit Bumrah’s back of the length delivery. Marsh’s dismissal brought together Australia’s most experienced duo of David Warner and Steve Smith who batted sensibly for their 69-run partnership off 85 balls as India introduced spin from as early as the eighth over.

But the spin-friendly track was turned into a landmine by Indian spinners who relentlessly stuck to the good length and the line within the stumps, allowing almost no pressure release point which turned the game in India’s favour.

Warner and Smith wanted to lay the foundation for the big hitters but as the runs dried up, the former became a victim of Kuldeep in the 17th over. The opener departed giving a catch back to the bowler in his attempt to play an inside-out drive against a tossed up delivery.

India were always going to be a tough opponent, especially in Chennai. But Australia’s batting has been properly marmalised by India’s spinners. #INDvAUS #CWC23

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) October 8, 2023

The next four batters, the middle-order consisting of Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey and Cameron Green, instead of confronting the demons in the pitch and the Indian spinners, went into a shell, essentially losing the match in the first innings itself.

Labuschagne and Maxwell batted at a strike rate of 65.85 and 60 respectively. Carey got out for a duck and Green struck out at 40. India spinners conceded just 104 runs in 30 overs at an economy rate of 3.47 and picked six wickets.

From 17th to the 40th over, after the dismissal of Warner, Australia added just 82 runs at a loss of five wickets. In the last 9.3 overs, they added 43 runs.

To give respect to bowlers who know the conditions like the back of their hands is necessary but the baffling tactics of the Australian middle-order to sit back and just wait for things to happen proved to be their doom.

There was no charging out to the spinners or big sweep or attacking reverse sweep. It was just a meek surrender to some quality spin bowling from India. The Aussies made no attempt to disrupt the rhythm of the Indian spinners by throwing them off guard with some expansive shots. Instead, they sat back and accepted their fate. The result? Bowled out for 199.

India’s masterclass in chase

In reply, Josh Hazlewood gave Australia the perfect start, dismissing Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for a pair of ducks in the second over of the match while Ishan Kishan fell in the first to Mitchell Starc. From 2/3, India showcased a batting masterclass of playing in home conditions.

Apart from the one chance in the eighth over when Kohli’s miscued pull shot was dropped by Marsh, the former India captain and KL Rahul gave no chance to Australia as they paced the chase perfectly and accumulated runs without risks.

Laal Fool, Peela Fool.
Rahul and Kohli batting beautiful.
A partnership to remember for a long time.

भारत को जीत पर बधाई । #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/fQJVLgSt6s

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 8, 2023

The biggest difference in India’s approach from that of Australia’s was their willingness to run between the wickets to keep the scorecard ticking. Instead of relying on boundary shots, Kohli and Rahul regularly collected singles and doubles to keep the pressure at bay.

India’s chase also exposed Australia’s lack of depth in the spin department. The Aussies have picked only one specialised spinner in Adam Zampa for a World Cup in India. That decision hit them hard in the first game as Zampa opened with an over where he was hit for three fours by Rahul and finished with figures of 0/53 from eight overs.

Read | ‘Heroics that’ll remain a classic’, Netizens hail Rahul, Kohli

India eventually finished the chase in 41.2 overs with Kohli making 85 and Rahul 97 not out as the Men in Blue ticked a lot of boxes in their opener with more tough matches to come.

On the other hand, Australia were clearly ill-equipped in both batting and bowling to tackle spin-friendly conditions. They now move to Lucknow for their next two games against South Africa and Sri Lanka on similar black-soil pitches that will assist spinners.