All series the Indian bowling unit has lacked consistency. While Australia had Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc to back each other, India had Bumrah and no one. Siraj was there only sporadically and Bumrah suffered in the absence of any serious support. Australia’s fourth bowler was Boland – he replaced Josh Hazlewood. India’s fourth bowler was Nitish Kumar Reddy. Just compare the impact and the answer is clear.
Also, India played Washington Sundar as an all-rounder. He was not given the ball for even an over in this game. He batted at No. 8 and it begs the question; why was he played? What was his role? If he was played as a batter, why not Dhruv Jurel? If he was played as an all-rounder, why not give him an over on a track that had cracks?
Baffling team selections, lack of support for Bumrah, serious lack of application from senior batters like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, extremely poor game awareness from someone like Shubman Gill – India will look back at the tour as one of lost opportunities. In Melbourne, Australia were 94/6 in the second innings. If India closed them out for 140, they would be chasing 250. Australia ended up getting 240.
In Sydney, the bowlers closed Australia for 181 in their first innings. India failed to capitalise on it. It is because at no point did India play as a collective. Individual brilliance can win you a game but can never win you a series.
Justly, Bumrah was adjudged as the Player of the Series. And equally justly, Australia were the winners 3-1. It tells you how average or below-average the rest of the Indian team was. After the high of 2021, this has been a very poor effort.