TEAM INDIA was thrashed badly by Australia in first test match in Melbourne. Australia defeated India by 337 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the four-match series at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). Past records of Melbourne Cricket Ground were not in India’s favour and it once again went against India. MCG’s records say that India has won only two tests against Australia on this ground. The last victory came in 1980-81.

 

Team India, which was on a high after the historic series win over Pakistan earlier this month, was defeated by world’s number one team in all departments of game. In fact, the first test match has highlighted several shortcomings of Indian players and illogical decisions taken by team selectors. The truth is that Australia did not win the match by their superb play, but due to the mistakes committed by the selectors and players. Indian batsmen, as well as bowlers, never shown the fighting spirit in the match and they failed.

 

Though Indian captain Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh bowled well, but that could not stop the Australian team. Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 62 in the first innings, no Indian batsmen could reach the half century mark. First test match has shown that even now Indian batsmen like Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman are unable to face the strong pace-attack of Australia and play comfortably on fast pitches.

 

There were a number of reasons behind Team India’s shameful defeat at MCG. First, the selection of final 11 was not at all a good combination. It is difficult to understand why the selectors did a number of experiments against World’s best team. Rahul Dravid was given the responsibility of opening the innings with Wasim Jaffer. Rahul Dravid does have a good record as an opener, but at that time he was in the best form of his career. If we see Dravid’s recent performances, he failed badly against Pakistan and did not performed well with the bat. So, promoting him to the opener’s slot was an irresponsible step taken by the team selectors.

 

The selectors picked up Virender Sehwag as an opener in the team, but he was not given the chance to play in the first test. When the selectors picked Virender Sehwag in the 16 members team for Australia it surprised every one, as he was not in the list of 24 probables. At that time, the national selectors said that they have selected Virender Sehwag in the team keeping in mind his past performances in Australia. Virender Sehwag does hold a good record on Australian soil. But why was he not included in the final 11? Virender Sehwag remained a key factor for team India, which performed well during the last Australian tour. Sehwag is one such player who can change the course of game in one single session by his exceptional stroke play that builds pressure upon opponent bowlers.

 

In this match, batting first after winning the toss, Australia could score only 343 runs. This was not a big total. But, the Indian openers, Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid, could not build a big partnership and other batsmen also failed to do so. If Virender Sehwag had played in the match, the results could have been different. Irfan Pathan, who is known for his swing bowling, was also not given the chance to play. Irfan Pathan is not only a bowler, but he is also a good batsman, his presence would have strengthened the team.

 

The experts rated Indian team, which had recently climbed to the fourth spot in ICC cricket ranking, high. Newly appointed captain Anil Kumble was also looking confident about the team’s good performance, but all hopes were shattered.

 

In fact, the team structure was looking unorganised and it seemed that the team was just sent into the field to fulfil the formalities. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly all should be blamed for team’s defeat. Of course, Indian captain Anil Kumble took five wickets in first innings, but he needs to learn the moves of captaincy.