Australian Bowlers Gave Team India A Reality Check And It's A Wake-Up Call That The Men In Blue Needed

Irfan Pathan, known famous for his left-arm swing mat have tweeted too early.

At about 1.43 pm, the first ODI between India and Australia was only 13 minutes old.

"There is a change in the loading in his bowling action for some reason and I think that's the reason Starc isn't getting the swing, on the contrary, the other end, Cummins is able to move the ball with repetitive action," he tweeted.

AP

Then Starc got rid of Rohit Sharma.

Spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar stifled the scoring in the middle overs with the former making India captain Virat Kohli his bunny again, dismissing him for the fourth time in ODIs. That Zampa bowled 25 dots in his 10-over spell, shows the control he exerted.

Zampa was accurate even while bowling to Dhawan and Rahul despite them being well set. Bowling more to a 5-4 leg-side field to Dhawan, he ensured that the openers just could not break free. It helped Agar at the other end, too, as he dismissed Rahul. Zampa was out of the Australian side from 2016 to 2019. But the tour of India in 2019 seems to have reinvigorated him.

AFP

Starc was playing his first ODI in India in over 10 years and post injury, had changed his action, a fact that was not lost on Kohli on match eve who indicated that the Indians may need to be wary about him come match day.

"I've played with him, played against him a lot. He is a very skilful bowler. And he has changed his action now. Looks like he's back to swinging the ball like he used to, and that makes him a lethal bowler all-over again. He gets to swing the ball in like that with the new ball and then tail it away with the old ball because he has got his action in a linear fashion. Anyone who has pace, once they find their length, they can adjust anywhere," Kohli observed.

AP

Those skills were witnessed later in the innings when Starc cleaned up Shardul Thakur with a reverse swinging yorker and before that, got rid of Shreyas Iyer with a delivery that moved away after pitching on a length to end with three wickets.

The Indians, who had only played ODIs against West Indies after losing to New Zealand in the World Cup semifinal in July, simply found the bowling too hot to handle.