Dropped catches, loose deliveries add to India's woes at SCG

India pacer Navdeep Saini conceded 83 off 10 overs. Pic/AFP

India were rusty in all three facets of the game. Fielders dropped catches, bowlers dished out too many loose deliveries and the batsmen tried to shrug off the rustiness by trying to hit out. It was far from ideal, but after 14 days of quarantine it was always going to be difficult, especially after Australia elected to bat on a placid Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

For the first few overs, there was intent and enthusiasm. But this was not the typical Australian surface that the Indian fast bowlers would have talked about during their quarantine period.

Navdeep Saini ran in hard and hit the deck, but instead of the ball flying across shoulder height it just skidded on to the bat. Saini's first ball was dispatched to the boundary with venom by skipper Aaron Finch and from that point onwards India were always on the back foot. Finch and David Warner added 156 for the opening wicket and laid the platform for a mammoth total of 374-6.

Taking wickets midway through the innings by spin has been India's recipe for success since the 2017 Champions Trophy, but on Friday, Yuzvendra Chahal offered far too much width to the Australian batsmen. Chahal's line was erratic and the Australians cashed in by smacking the leg-spinner for 10 boundaries and he ended up with 10-0-89-1. Then, the ever reliable Jasprit Bumrah being clobbered for 73 off his 10 proved that it was simply an off day for the Indian bowlers.

Chasing 375 was never going to be easy, especially since none of the batsmen had batted for a substantial period of time. Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul were all guilty of overpowering the ball. Losing three wickets inside 15 overs made India's task unattainable.

Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya were the only two batsmen who were willing to occupy the crease. Pandya proved with his valiant knock of 90 off 76 balls that he's good enough to fit into the playing XI as a pure batsman. Overall, it was a sluggish outing for the Men in Blue and they will be extremely disappointed with the 66-run loss. But then, it was the team's first outing as a unit after a long time and they are bound to improve when the two teams meet again on Sunday.

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