Be aware of Australia’s tail in World Test Championship final

India’s World Test Championship hopes rest on whether their bowlers can dismiss the Australian tail.

If you remember the 2021 final, you will recall that at that time India struggled to dismiss the New Zealand lower order. They ended up adding crucial runs which proved to be the deciding factor in the end. The fact that India’s batting failed in their second innings also did not help matters.

There are a lot of lessons for India to learn from that final loss in 2021.

This time they are up against Australia who also have a formidable lower-order batting line-up. We saw in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy just how they were prepared for a scrap.

Their skipper Pat Cummins was not around for the full series, but he is a formidable foe with the bat. Then we have the likes of Mitchell Starc who like to hang around and so does Nathan Lyon.

India lacks a leg-spinner or an express paceman who can mop up the tail at will. That has been the bane of Indian cricket since they started playing Test matches way back in 1932.

Then in the previous five years when India did well away from home, they could still not dismiss the lower half of batting line-ups in England, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Of these in Australia India won the series twice despite the lower-order resistance. In England, they made a hero out of Sam Curran in 2018, but in 2021-22 managed to keep him at bay to some extent.

In New Zealand they struggled to get the likes of Kyle Jamieson dismissed which proved to be the stumbling block there. Then in South Africa they failed twice in 2018 and in 2021. It has been a forgettable time for the Indian bowling against the lower-order batters especially away from home.

At home they have the spin twin of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to take care of things. But when they start moving away from home, the problems begin. This is what the Indians must be wary about.