Rishabh Pant fights valiantly as India collapse for 185 on day one of Sydney Test

Pant reflected on the intense hits he received during the cricket match, stating, "It's definitely a new experience for me to get hit this much. In cricket, you can never predict what will happen. Every player goes through unique challenges in their career, and today was my turn."

It was a day of blows -- to the mind and the body. The collective psyche of a nation was shaken as Rohit Sharma was dropped (and not rested as they would have you believe) for a decisive game. And then, as wicket after wicket fell to a relentless Australian attack, the body seemed to give up too. India were broken down, ball-by-ball, hour-by-hour, session-by-session on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. And that is honest truth that coach Gautam Gambhir demanded on the eve of the game.

As India struggled to reach 185 all out on a green top at the SCG, it often felt like we were watching a repeat of the previous matches in the series. KL Rahul hit a four-ball straight to the fielder at square leg, Yashasvi Jaiswal edged one to third slip off Boland, a batter (Gill this time) was dismissed in the last over before tea, Virat Kohli edged a delivery off the fifth stump line. Nothing has changed and that should ‘honestly’ trouble Gambhir.

In reply, Australia had reached 9/1 at close of play. Usman Khawaja was dismissed off the final ball of the day giving all those watching a hint of what might follow on Day 2. But then again, the sun might come out and the pitch might not do as much.

India’s problem all series has been batting -- yet, they insist on picking six bowlers and not an extra batter. Logic would have dictated that the team management would plug the holes in the sinking ship but there are instead trying to perhaps make their way out of troubled waters with the bowlers powering their escape.

The strategy is a flawed one. In this series, India have had scores of 150, 180, 175, 260, 155 and 185 (at Sydney) and given the collective form of the batters, it was surprising to see Jasprit Bumrah elect to bat first. Australia skipper Pat Cummins said he would have done the same so maybe they are expecting the pitch to deteriorate later in the game.

But the green top meant that no batter was ever truly in as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland ran riot. This Aussie attack is set apart by the manner in which they build pressure and on a wicket that seamed all day, the 35-year-old Boland was the star.

The pacer finished the innings with sensational bowling figures of 20-8-31-4. He found the right lengths and made the ball do enough to trouble the batters all day. To Pant, who only had scores of 37, 1, 21, 28, 9, 28, 30 to his name this series, this was a day to hold back his attacking instincts; it was a day to find a different way.

After 50 overs, India were 107/4. It was slow going but Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, who hung around for a while for his 95-ball 26, felt this was the right way forward.

“I think in this innings I was not in a frame of mind where I wanted to take charge of the game because the wicket was doing too much,” he said. “And the kind of situation we were in and while playing inside, I felt like I could do like play a little bit of defensive cricket. Yes, there is a time to attack but you have to feel that from inside. I can’t just pre-meditate that I’m going to play in a particular way... whatever the game asked me to do on that given day, that’s what I try to do and that was the mindset.”

The one trick India might have missed is that they didn’t try to do much against the older ball. There is, of course, the argument that there is a lot of grass on the pitch and the square and due to that the ball just kept making run-scoring very difficult.

The 48-run stand between Pant and Jadeja took 151 balls and it might have pushed the Indian total into a competitive territory. India’s 185 is the lowest first-innings score by a touring team at the SCG since they themselves were rolled for 150 in January 2000. They went on to lose that match by an innings and 141 runs as Australia piled on 552/5 in reply.

“I think I wouldn’t say it’s a par score, but I think anything over 220-250 would be a par score, but still a very competitive score because the way the ball is moving now, I think there’s a lot of help for the bowler,” said Pant.

And that assessment is something that allrounder Beau Webster, who made his debut for Australia, agrees with.

“Think there’s definitely a method to go about batting on this wicket. But Jasprit is a world-class bowler and there is no doubt he’s going to challenge our whole batting group. He’s phenomenal with his lengths and lines, it is going to be tough on a wicket that will offer a fair bit for him,” said Webster.

Day 2 will bring its own challenges and a chance for India to fight back into the game. They’ve done it before and that will add even more spice to an already testing match.

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