Australia's misery against spin was their undoing at Dubai

Tags: Australia tour of UAE 2014, Pakistan, Australia, Pakistan Vs Australia 1st Test at Dubai, Oct 22-26, 2014

Published on: Oct 28, 2014

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Australian teams of past have tasted success in conditions which seemed totally conducive to the hosts. But, the current squad led by Michael Clarke is not that talented.

Australian teams of past have tasted success in conditions which seemed totally conducive to the hosts. But, the current squad led by Michael Clarke is not that talented. They have a few match-winners in their side, but not all of them are good enough to succeed away from home. When Australia kicked off their tour of Dubai against Pakistan, spin was going to be their biggest test. The signs weren't very bright when the Aussies were embarrassed in the practice game. The visitors may have preferred not to read too much into it since it was just a warm-up match. But, in the wake of drubbing in the opening Test, it has become clear that the practice match loss was an obvious sign of things to come.

Undoubtedly, spin was Australia's undoing in the Test. They failed to stand up even to the inexperienced spin duo of Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah. If you take away David Warner's hundred in the first innings, their overall batting effort was dismal. In fact, once Australia lost their in-form opener early in the second essay, they never looked in any sort of control out in the middle. Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson batted well for their impressive half-centuries on the final day, but it wasn't enough to save the game. Also, they were lucky to get many reprieves.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Australia's batting unit as a whole failed. Chris Rogers batted valiantly in both the innings, but fell in the 30s and 40s, which is just not good enough in Test cricket. The others were pretty much found out under the conditions. Alex Doolan has a long way to go before securing the crucial number three slot. Skipper Michael Clarke too had twin failures, which made matters worse for the Aussies. On his debut, Mitchell Marsh learnt that he has plenty of work to do when in comes to playing spin. Even veteran Brad Haddin found it tough to deal with the conditions.

Australia's bowling was also highly ineffective in both innings. Except for the first couple of sessions on the opening day, when Johnson troubled the Pakistanis with his searing pace, they never made any kind of impact, Johnson included. Peter Siddle was easily dealt with. Among the others, Mitchell Marsh could not impress on debut with the ball as well. Nathan Lyon is a decent spinner, but he is never going to trouble batsmen from the sub-continent. And, not surprisingly then, the Pakistani batsmen had the going very easy against him. Australian bowlers had to be content playing the waiting game.

In a two-match series, you cannot afford to lose the opening Test. Australia's defeat means they cannot win the series from here. Of course, all is not lost. They can still save the series and draw it by winning the second Test. For that though, they will need to overhaul their performance in the opening Test completely. Their batting against spin will have to improve significantly, and their bowling too will need to display a lot more teeth.

--By A Cricket Analyst

Related News