“He’s got a fair bit of hyperextension in that elbow and does things a lot of actions won’t let you do,” Mitchell Starc said. “His skills were on show today as to how good he is. I’m sure there’s something in that release point, that that’s significant to his action. I’m certainly not going to try it, I’d probably snap.”
Looking down the pitch at debutant McSweeney as the shadows lengthened across Optus Stadium, stand-in skipper Bumrah sniffed an opportunity for the bowling instincts of which he spoke so proudly on match eve.
McSweeney left his first ball on length, but that only encouraged Bumrah to work his way fuller. He soon found a nip-backer that McSweeney, playing for away swing, missed by a distance, although Bumrah required DRS to win the lbw verdict.
Labuschagne’s stay might have last just two balls if not for Kohli dropping a chance in the slips, spilling it only after the Indian cordon had begun sprinting towards the bowler in celebration. But Bumrah was not to be denied.
Khawaja, who showed understandable eagerness to get to the non-striker’s end, could do nothing about a rising ball angled into him from around the wicket. Smith, for all the talk of having “found his hands”, could do even less with a break back of full length that pinned him palpably lbw on the crease.
Bumrah’s calm words and heroics inspired his tyros. Debutant Harshit Rana took note of Bumrah’s advice not to worry too much about swing, “just hit that area and let the ball do the work”. He hit the seam on the perfect line and length to beat and bowl Travis Head from around the wicket. For Bumrah, this was arguably the biggest wicket of all, given Head’s recent record against India.
When Labuschagne finally notched his first run after 24 balls and 44 minutes, he bashfully raised his bat in response to the crowd’s roar. Runs were that hard to come by. Mitchell Marsh edged Mohammed Siraj (2-17) into the cordon and Labuschagne fell lbw - in all, 17 wickets fell for the day.
Australia’s Josh Hazlewood celebrates the wicket of India’s Devdutt Padikkal.Credit: AP
Ugly as these moments were, it was impossible to look away. There is an undeniable fascination with the battle between two ageing and struggling batting orders, their jobs made more difficult by the prouder seam of the Kookaburra ball, and the preponderance of live grass on Australian pitches.
Kohli’s struggles earlier in the day had come despite clear technical work geared at evading the kinds of outside edges that Pat Cummins and company have become adept at finding. What he had not prepared for was the kind of West Indian lifter that Josh Hazlewood summoned as part of a sublime 4-29.
Not as freakishly gifted as Bumrah, Hazlewood’s craft is more earthy, as befits a product of Bendemeer in country New South Wales. He thrives on steep bounce and consistency, asking questions of the defence again and again.
Per CricViz numbers, no-one over the past 20 years has matched Hazlewood’s 45 per cent of balls on a good line and length in Tests, and he knows that every year the lure of Twenty20 makes it harder for batters to ignore his temptations.
Loading
“Some touring teams aren’t as used to that bounce so they’re playing at a lot more balls that they don’t need to,” Hazlewood said this week. “Guys generally want to feel bat on ball more than 10-15 years ago, no doubt.”
In the final session, it was Australia’s turn to grope for bat on ball, a thankless task against Bumrah in this mood and on this pitch. A vaunted bowling attack and a struggling India won’t be enough for Cummins: He needs to find runs from somewhere.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.