Zabardast!

Representation pic

What a zabardast start to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy! An investigation needs to be held as soon as possible. Who were those cricketers wearing Indian national team's uniforms that turned up in Perth over four days and solidly trounced Australia on their own patch of Harvey River clay? There were some familiar names but not familiar recent performances. Was this the same India who found the guile of New Zealand tweakers too much to handle despite the nominative advantage of playing on their own sub-continental dust heaps? Surely not.

Australia have as good an attack as any Test nation - fast, controlled, vastly experienced, balanced with righties and a leftie and throw in a 500-wicket spinner. Plus they were playing on the ‘fastest pitch in the world' - surely a massive advantage for the home team.

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India's Yashasvi Jaiswal during his 161 against Australia at Perth Stadium on Saturday. Pic/PTI

India were doomed before a ball was unboxed, apparently. Captain Rohit Sharma was delayed and a fast bowler took the reins. Jasprit Bumrah led from the front with the blinding smile of a contract assassin. He didn't so much as make the shiny red Kookaburra laugh as cackle with demonic delight. He delivered high calibre stuff on a pitch that went from a mildly sprung mattress to corrugated concrete during the change of the third innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal seemed to playing in a different theatre altogether and Virat Kohli could not quite rediscover his long absent glitter and sparkle instead substituting grit and discipline in an innings for the purists and for teammates who like defending big scores.

At home, India could find no joy bowling or facing spin. In Perth, they did not need Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel or Kuldeep Yadav or anyone who bowled slowly. Washington Sundar's bonus wickets in the death throes aside, Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy looked tailor-made for Australian conditions with tall side-on actions and high release points getting most from the bounce. Mohd Siraj loves a contest on any surface. The Indian fast bowler certainly outshone the home battery.

So, what the heck is going on here? Pat Cummins reckons his team's preparation was adequate but that remains a limited perception rather than an objective observation as batsmen who shied away from Sheffield Shield games in favour of rest and nets, appeared well underdone.

There is no substitute for playing competitive cricket and the Shield offered that for three full rounds before this Test. Alex Carey opted for matches with South Australia and looked the most comfortable of the Australians at the crease. It is one thing to be fresh for a five-Test series, it is another matter altogether to be match-hardened, to be prepared for the battering you will be getting from world-class fast bowlers.

Australia underdone, India revelling in pace and bounce, Kohli back in the runs and yet another Indian prodigy unearthed. The best thing to look forward is that there are four more Tests to go. Now, that's a proper Test series.

Geoff Lawson bowled fast for Australia from 1980 to 1989 well before he coached Pakistan