Australia v India: Bumrah's absence deals a significant blow as BGT ownership switches hands

As the Indian team gathered in a huddle without Bumrah on Day 3 of the Sydney Test, a sense of foreboding hung in the air. Throughout the series, the supporting players had not stepped up, and now, with only 162 runs to defend, they were being tasked with an almost insurmountable challenge. It felt unjust to expect them to carry the burden alone. It was also unfair to Bumrah, who had been a key player throughout the series. While cricket is ultimately a team sport, it is undeniable that individual brilliance often makes all the difference.

The pacer had been in divine form all series, but now, in its final leg, he had broken down. If this didn’t break your heart, then you are tough, unimaginably so. He came out to bat and that gave all those watching some hope, until it was extinguished a little later.

Australia won the third shortest Test at Sydney (in terms of balls bowled, 1141) by six wickets to take the series 3-1, and finally get their hands on the Border Gavaskar Trophy after a decade. But for most people, the abiding memory from the series will be Bumrah. The stuttering run-up, the competitiveness, the anger, the stare, the smarts and the almost inhuman ability to not waste a single delivery.

When he would stand at the top of his run-up, the crowd would hold its collective breath and he would deliver. That was the script in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney too. He claimed 32 wickets at an astonishing average of 13.06 in the series, and such was his impact that despite losing the series he was still adjudged Player-of-the-Series.

But why are we talking about Bumrah when India just lost a series? For starters, he was one of the few positives to emerge. Yashasvi Jaiswal was another one, and so was KL Rahul.

Beyond them, this was a harsh lesson for many in the team. The seniors and the juniors. Batting and bowling included too.

In seven innings, India failed to cross 200 in this series, the joint most in this century alongside West Indies against Australia in 2000-01. The struggles of the batters should be a major source of worry for the team going forward. It was one of the main reasons India didn’t win despite Bumrah’s brilliance.

It would have been tough to match Bumrah. That much is given. But the gap between him and the rest of the bowling line-up was too wide. The difference between the bowling averages of Bumrah and the other India seamers in this series was an astounding 21.76.

The series was played in bowling-friendly conditions, yet Siraj averaged 31.15 for his 20 wickets, Nitish Reddy 38.00 for his five, Harshit Rana 50.75 for his four, Akash Deep 54.00 for his five. And we aren’t even getting into the spinners. This huge imbalance meant that the Aussies always had some time to gather their breath when Bumrah wasn’t bowling.

Improvement, though, will only come after accepting that there is a problem.

“The first thing is that the person sitting here will accept the mistakes first,” said head coach Gautam Gambhir. “So, you don’t worry that mistakes will not be accepted here. We had our moments in this series… we could have won this series.”

He added: “The way we started this series. After that, obviously we drew (faced) the pink-ball Test. If you pick up a session from Melbourne, the last session… if we had kept the series at one-all, the pressure on Australia would have been even greater. And there were moments in this match too. If we had followed up on 180 and still led the way, if we had batted better in the second innings, if we had set a target of 250-300, things would have been difficult. So, it’s not that we didn’t have moments. And it’s not that I will blame just one department for not batting or bowling. We could have done better in bowling or batting.”

The ‘done better’ also applies to Siraj but Gambhir felt the pacer gave it his all.

“I think the attitude of Siraj was outstanding,” said Gambhir. “I haven’t seen a lot of... I don’t think I remember a guy who’s run in every ball despite sometimes not being 100% fit, and that is what it means for him to play for the country and that’s the kind of attitude we had.”

The priority for the Indian team will be to now plan for the future. The reversal at home against New Zealand and the loss in this series are tough pills to swallow for a country that has established itself as the economic epicentre of the sport.

“Yeah, it’s been tough,” said Gambhir. “Absolutely no doubt about it. It’s been really tough and these weren’t the results we were expecting in the last eight Tests, but that is what sport is all about. All I can expect from that dressing room is to keep fighting and all we all can do, not only as players but as a support staff, is to be honest and keep fighting. But more importantly, it’s a result-oriented sport and it hasn’t gone our way. As simple, as it can be.”

Recognising the issue might be simple but finding solutions to it will be anything but; and that’s what the Border Gavaskar Trophy proved to many in India. The series ends with some tough questions for India to answer while Australia can look forward to deservedly defending their World Test Championship title against South Africa at Lord’s in June.

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