The foreign conditions, the pitches, accusations of ‘doctoring’, a slew of injuries, the lack of tour matches, the wrong attitude, the wrong technical approach, selection errors, not enough sweeping, too much sweeping!
Those are some of the countless theories that voices from the Australian cricketing aristocracy have posited as explanations for the Aussies’ failures in each of the first two tests against India. It’s all interesting stuff and for us - the forlorn fans of a losing effort - we will lap it up like eager beasts elbowing each other at a trough.
However, the honest and slightly more efficient truth is that Australia lost the matches and relinquished the chance to regain the trophy because they were the second-best team twice. Or, rather, India won because of the performances of their trio of world-class spin-bowling all-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin (36), Ravindra Jadeja (34), and Axar Patel (29).
Forget the conspiracies
The media coverage of the Australian cricket team, particularly in Australia, can be so insular and inward-facing that it can start to obscure the real point of it all: the game. It’s often guilty of failing to shine enough light on the other teams involved, such is the Australian preoccupation with its own side.
If Australia win, it’s usually because they were brilliant, if they lose, it’s because they are somehow fraudulent, inept or, worst of all, un-Australian. For every loss, there is at least a very urgent crisis at hand and at most a cosmic cricketing conspiracy at play.
The Australian cricketing conversation is a wonderful and vibrant thing but it is also an insatiable and sometimes cannibalistic creature that can, in its darker hours, consume the peace and prosperity of the individuals to who it really owes its existence: the players. We saw that with sandpaper-gate and more recently with the Tim Paine scandal.
In the case of the ongoing series in India, there are plenty of column inches to be filled about what’s gone wrong for Australia so far, and why, but let’s forget those theories for a moment. Not because they lack any validity but because they reek of excuse-making and because it is more enlightening to focus on how brilliant the better team have been, particularly the three players mentioned above.
Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar aren’t just key to India’s current and recent success on home soil, they also might be one of the best three-pronged spin attacks we will ever see. They are certainly unmatched as a package of all-rounders in contemporary international test cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin
India's first-choice frontline spinner added another milestone to his already glittering career when he reached the mark of 450 test wickets on the opening day of the first test in Nagpur.
Now, with 463 test wickets to his name, Ashwin is ninth on the list of all-time test wicket takers and second to Anil Kumble (619) in India’s list. Having played 27 fewer tests, he is just five wickets short of Australia’s Nathan Lyon (35), who he could well surpass into eighth place in the third or fourth test.
If the Australian batters were having nightmares about facing Ashwin before the tour began, they’ll be doubly anxious now that he has tormented them across four innings, taking 14 scalps at an average of less than 14. The highlight of his series so far was his 5/37 in the third innings as India stormed to victory in the first test.
Ravindra Jadeja
Left-arm spinner Jadeja became the fastest Indian to reach the double of 250 wickets and 2,500 runs in test cricket last Friday. Jadeja achieved the feat with the wicket of Usman Khawaja (36) in the first innings of the second test in Delhi.
He is second only to Ian Botham in terms of the number of tests taken to reach the mythical 250/2,500 combination. Make no bones about it, with those figures, Jadeja has already cemented his spot among the best all-rounders to have ever played test cricket.
Jadeja has been the player of the series so far thanks mostly to his ability with the ball in hand. He has taken 17 wickets (of a possible 40 for India) across the first two matches at an average of just over 11, including a magnificent 7/42 to set up India’s win as Australia completely capitulated in the second test.
Axar Patel
The most recent of the three spinners to emerge into the team and, by some distance, the least experienced at test level, left-armer Axar has made himself almost impossible to leave out thanks to his excellent performances.
He hasn’t made as much of an impact with the ball in this series - claiming just one wicket - but after just 10 tests, he has already taken 48 wickets at the incredible average of 15.45.
To put his young career into perspective, the fastest Indian bowler to reach 50 wickets was Ashwin, who did it in just nine tests, having bowled 2,726 balls (by the end of his ninth test). Injured star Jasprit Bumrah (29) - the fastest Indian seamer to reach 50 wickets - actually achieved the feat in fewer balls (2,524) but took 11 matches to do so.
Axar could pip them both to the record in terms of balls bowled in his next match. He needs just two wickets to reach the half-century mark and has only bowled 1,898 balls in his test career to date. Whenever he gets there, he will surely be in the fastest handful of Indian players to do so.
More than handy with the bat
Bowling prowess aside, all three are more than useful with the bat in hand. With the trio batting between six and nine, it means India’s tail doesn’t just wag a bit, it flaps something fierce.
Jadeja, who bats at six, is the most accomplished with the bat and the player who could most reasonably be considered a genuine all-rounder - someone who could be picked for either skill independently.
He boasts three test centuries, a career average close of 37 and, incredibly, is the only player to have scored three triple-hundreds in India’s first-class tournament - the Ranji Trophy. He hasn’t blown the Aussies away like that just yet but he did score a vital 70 in the first test and is currently the series’ fifth-highest run-getter.
Ashwin is a fine batsman in his own right, with five test centuries to his name, and has been useful in this series, too. His eighth-wicket stand with Axar in the first innings of the second test helped India get back on course after their batsmen mostly failed. As Lyon duly noted, both Ashwin and Axar could probably be batting in the top six of most test nations.
Axar, though, has been the standout batsman of the three in this series. Coming in at number eight, he has contributed 158 runs already at an average of 79 and is second in the run-scoring charts after India's captain Rohit Sharma (35).
It’s telling that the two highest-scoring partnerships of the series for either team have been the aforementioned eighth-wicket Ashwin-Axar stand (114 runs) in Delhi followed by the eighth-wicket Jadeja-Axar partnership (88) in Nagpur.
Suffice it to say, these three musketeers have been at the centre of almost everything good India have done in this series.
Having one all-rounder is absolutely key to striking the right mix for most test teams. Having three elite all-rounders is a rare luxury that sets this Indian side well apart from their rivals in terms of their depth of batting, bowling, and the elegant balance it affords them.
Allegiances aside, all cricket fans should take a moment to appreciate these three while they are playing and, especially, while they are all playing together. To my fellow Australians out there, I will add this - before we get caught up in the pain of what is fast becoming a crushing series defeat, we mustn’t forget to revel in the joy of brilliant talent wherever it comes from.
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