Australia was lucky to make the game stretch out that far, with only a record 10th wicket stand between debutant Moises Henriques and 11th man Nathan Lyon making sure that India had to bat again.
Moises was the most impressive of the Australian batsman and should have guaranteed himself a spot in the next test, possibly at the expense of a batsman or a bowler. It is hard to know who he should replace, given that it is hard to work out whether the Australian team batted worse than it bowled.
Certainly letting India score over 500 on a wearing track isn't a good sign, but the ineptitude shown by its batsman in playing spin indicates that Australia is going to struggle to defend any total it may be able to muster with the ball.
Of the batsmen, Shane Watson must be the man most in the firing line, though dropping the teams Vice Captain and two-time winner of the Alan Border Medal is unprecedented. That being said, "Watto" did win his medals while the team was in a worse state than it is now.
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| This guy used to get a game |
There may not be much to celebrate at the moment but Australia can take some solace that Shane Watson, hitherto the best/only Test cricketer in the team, may no longer be good enough for the starting XI.
With Watson now unable to bowl at Test level, his scores of 30-40 really aren't enough for the middle order. Besides, Ed Cowan seems to be doing that job.
This does raise the question of who to bring in though; Usman Khawaja must be a consideration, though he may only be good for 30-40 himself. Still, he is young and in India with the team. If a batsman is going to be brought in, he seems to be the only man standing.
The Australia-A team has just smashed the England Lions in 4 consecutive 50-over matches, but these have not been on Indian pitches and none of these players could possibly be a consideration at the moment.
Should Watson keep his place and the selectors look to bring in a bowler to try and restrict the total Australia needs to chase, Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle would have to be the men most likely to be dropped.
Siddle is, apparently, the first man in the team picked. This may be worrying in itself.
He is, though, someone who tries all game and appears to be a good influence on the team. He possibly doesn't have the variety required to be a threat in India, but he can bowl for long spells, which allows the others a break and serves a role.
Mitchell Starc is my favorite Australian Left-Arm fast bowler at the moment, though seems to spend periods of games being consistently un-threatening. This doesn't seem to perplex him, which is a great sign and he has plenty of excellent cricket ahead of him. After going wicket-less in the First Test, he is probably the least required bowler should a change be needed.
The obvious bowler to be brought in is Xavier Doherty, who is apparently the only spinner worth taking to India at the moment. I'm not sure what Stephen O'Keefe has said to anyone, but I'd suggest that the X-man pay for O'Keefes ticket to India to save him embarrassment.
On reflection, all of these changes are based around Moises' (a debutants) place in the team. Not a great sign. Better batting and more aggressive bowling is certainly needed to make a greater contest of the Second Test.
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