Captain Pat was the Mullagh medallist today, and rightly so. There were many alternative options for today’s header: one of which was the Latin tag Naturam expellas furca tamen usque recurret. (Horace. Look it up if you don’t know it.) Nature will strike back, however you try to overcome it. Bowl fifth stump to Kohli, seaming away, and he will edge to slips. (He did.) Tempt Pant with off-spin at both ends? Sooner or later he will go for it, and probably hole out in the deep. (He did.) But Cummins presided over all; and confounded his critics, most of whom know far less about cricket than he does.
Another alternative header was going to be The Day Of The Phantom. Bill Lawry (obdurate opening bat, Australian captain and renowned pigeon-fancier) once told a less than impressed Ian Chappell ‘Look, we’re playing for a draw. If we even think about trying to win then we’re going to lose.’ The Barnacle hated losing. Had India followed Lawry’s instructions to the letter they might have saved this game. One bloke who was entirely guiltless is Jaiswal. Absolutely nobody should blame him for chasing a wide ball and gloving it behind. India were six down already. He batted for over 200 deliveries. He’d made his second eighty of the match. Had he made it through to stumps it would have been he, and not Cummins, as Player of the Match.
For a long while before tea, he had help. From 3/33 at lunch, India made it to 3/112 by tea. Rishabh Pant had evidently taken harsh criticism from Gavaskar et al on board, and restrained himself admirably. At no point did India attempt to win the match. These men are realists, and knew that Cummins’ decision to bat on until the last hurrah had taken an Indian victory out of the realms of possibility. Both sides knew that after tea on day five, the MCG wicket will spring to life like a monster from the slab. At the first bolt of lightning from the metaphysical heavens, the ball will start playing tricks like David Copperfield entertaining a TV audience.
Few could appreciate at the time Cummins’ decision to open with Head and Lyon after tea. Yet it made perfect sense. We need a wicket, and what remains of my seam attack must be fresh enough to take advantage thereafter. Lyon commanded respect, as ever; but Head? Really? The implied insult to Pant’s batting skills could no longer be denied. Unable to deny temptation a moment longer he swiped at Head, and was brilliantly taken at long on by Marsh. The latter may well have played his final Test match, but he contributed well in the field with two fine catches.
Immediately Cummins brought back his quicks. Three down became six down in no time at all. But with the new ball imminent, Cummins then put his trust in Boland and Lyon, and they did not disappoint. He himself and his battered offsider Starc – arguably now held together with duct-tape – he held back for the new ball, should it be needed. But it wasn’t. Boland made the ball leap off a good length, and Lyon – bowling at one stage to five slips – was good enough to sweep away the tail. Spare a thought also for Washington Sundar. Five not out from 45 deliveries is a poor return for a quality batsman. He, and Reddy, ought to have been in early.
With Cummins comprehensively vindicated, and his captaincy belatedly pronounced flawless, both teams have changes to make. In a contest of titans there is no room for passengers. Richardson should come in for Starc, to give the heroic left-arm quick a rest; and the time for Webster to replace Marsh can no longer be put off. For India, it is time to bid farewell to both Kohli and Sharma. The younger players have performed brilliantly. But you cannot carry two veterans at once who do not seem to realise that their time has passed. And on to Sydney!