In the second test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Aussies tried sweeping their way out of trouble. While they were somewhat successful in the first innings, the events that took place afterward may have sealed their fates for the rest of this series. One can say that Australia may have swept themselves away in this series with regards to their aggressive approach against the Indian spinners but also possibly allowing the Indians to create a 4-0 clean sweep of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

After going at 5.08 an over at the end of day 2 (61/1 in 12 overs), there would be a nine-wicket collapse in 19.1 overs with only 52 more runs added to the total (113). While the Indians did lose four wickets in their second innings, a target of 115 was not threatening enough for the Aussies to defend. When you consider the fact that there would be two whole days left, India could’ve just as easily dragged the game as much as needed while still chasing down that small target.

With the win in test #2, India would not be able to lose the series even if they drew or lost their last two games. Since they held the trophy from the previous BGT series, they would retain the trophy again regardless of how the rest of the series plays out. As if this weren’t enough suffering for the Aussies, they will be without their captain (Pat Cummins, due to family reasons), one of their openers (David Warner, due to injury), and one of their top fast bowlers (Josh Hazlewood, due to injury) for the third test. Cummins may yet be back in test #4 but Warner and Hazlewood are out for the rest of the Test series. In addition, spinner Ashton Agar was also sent home to play domestic cricket after losing his spot to recent debutants Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann. 

This leaves behind a sort of weakened team with two months and 25 days left (from the end of the BGT series) until the final of the 2021-23 World Test Championship. If Australia loses out and gets swept by India, their spot in the WTC final comes under pressure from Sri Lanka, who could go up to second place if they won both their remaining matches against New Zealand. Australia just requires a minimum of one draw in this series or one Sri Lanka draw/loss to secure their spot in the WTC final.

This was part of the discussion on the State of Cricket podcast, episode 130. Other aspects included the atrocious shot selection of the Aussie batters, Steve Smith and other instinctual Australian batters, whether Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are doing enough to keep their positions in the Indian squad, and the pressure on the Indian coach and captaincy duo of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma.

If you are interested in the rest of the conversation, please check out the links below: