It is a rare sight seeing India or any Test team being one up against the Australians in a Test series Down Under and looking to take an unassailable lead. However, all that changed in the blink of an eye when Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc wrapped up the Indian tail in their second innings to inflict a crushing 146 run defeat on India and level the 4-match Test series at Perth.
The loss at Perth is a bitter learning lesson for India - implying that a couple of loose sessions can cost you a test match. Complacency can be your worst enemy at times and it certainly was India's nemesis on the last two sessions on the green turf at Perth.
After beating Australia convincingly in the opening Test at Adelaide, the Indian think tank has a lot to ponder about. Time is drawing to an end for both openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul, who have had an extended lean patch in red ball cricket on seaming conditions. The time is ripe for handing young turk Mayank Agarwal his first Test cap post his heavy run-scoring stints with India A on seaming tracks. The chinks in the Indian batting line-up have been exposed yet again, with most of our premier batsmen succumbing tamely to both swing and pace.
The biggest worry remains India's weak surrender to 'not so' potent spin, that too in relatively flat overseas tracks. It was not for the first time that off-spinner Nathan Lyon cast a web around the Indians, it has now been a repeat feature. The team ought to understand that the prolific run scoring machine Virat Kohli won't deliver the goods with the willow all the time and the ever dependent Cheteshwar Pujara won't always play the rescuer act with his gritty batting displays.
Indians could have missed a trick by not playing spin- allrounder Ravindra Jadeja on a pitch which had some turn and grip for the spinners. Perhaps the grass and bounce on the newly dropped- in Perth pitch were a little too deceptive for the think tank and misread by many pundits.
Credit has to be given to the Australians who made a resurgent comeback after being down and out at Adelaide. The telling difference was a much more assured batting performance by the 'Baggy Greens'. If openers Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris set the tone with well-crafted fifties in the first innings, it was the technically sound Usman Khwaja who chipped in with a gritty half-century in their crucial second innings. Pace spearhead Mitchel Starc hit back at his critics with a sensational bowling spell which saw the left arm seamer account for three Indian batsmen in their second innings.
All is not yet lost for the Indians who are very much in the run to script their maiden test series win in Australian soil. The Indian pacers with the exception of Umesh Yadav hit the right areas and made inroads into the Aussies batting order, chipping in with regular wickets. Mohammad Shami was the pick of the seamers with his sensational six-wicket haul while Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma chipped in with wickets. Indian skipper Kohli once again led the batting efforts with his stupendous ton, while Rahane has clawed back his way to some batting form.
If India aims to script history, the batting order will have to click collectively and give the bowlers something worthy to bowl at the opposition. There is some good news with allrounder Hardik Pandya recuperating well from his surgery and being named in the squad for the remainder of the series. India would hope ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is fully fit and back into the playing eleven on the turning tracks at Sydney and Melbourne.
The resilient Kangaroos are very much up and about with a spring in their jump. If the subcontinent tiger has to prowl over the Kangaroos in their own backyard, it will have to roar louder with more consistent batting displays.