Australia have been humbled by a rampaging India, with the home side slumping to a 295-run defeat in the First Test in Perth.

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The Aussie top order crumbled and contributed just 44 combined runs for the match, as India claimed a stunning third win in their past four Tests in Australia.

With questions to be asked of Australia’s selections, we look at all the Talking Points from the disastrous loss.

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THE BIG ISSUE HURTING AUSTRALIA

Australia’s top order was badly exposed in Perth – with the top four combining for a paltry 44 runs for the entire First Test.

And it’s an issue of Australia’s own doing, according to star Brett Lee, given selectors once again opted against picking a specialist opener.

“What concerns me is that the selectors have gone the last two batsmen to open for Australia, they’ve gone with Steven Smith – brought him out of his No.4 position where he was averaging nearly 60 – up to the top of the innings because they had no one else in there – in their words – that could fill that gap,” he told foxsports.com.au

“I don’t think that was fair on Steve Smith, even though he would have elected to have taken that opportunity and that challenge.

“I think he’s better suited at No.4.

“They then have another opportunity to go for another opening batsman and they go for (Nathan) McSweeney.”

And the decision to then essentially leave McSweeney to sink or swim against a firing Jasprit Bumrah during a tense 24-minute battle to stay in the contest late on Sunday is one that has been questioned.

“I’d have loved to have seen the senior pro Usman Khawaja say to the youngster, ‘I’m taking that first over’,” Fox Cricket’s Michael Vaughan said.

“Twenty-four minutes, it was to just get through the day’s play.

“Just little details like that, I’d love to have seen the senior player just say to the youngster I’ll take the first over for us.”

Former Aussie opener, and Khawaja’s last Test partner, David Warner said he was certain the call would have been McSweeney’s to front up.

“I’m pretty sure Uzzy would have actually asked him again when he was walking out, ‘Do you want me to take it?’ and I think the young guy would have said, ‘Yeah I’ll take it, I want it’.”

But that conversation is the problem, Indian great Ravi Shastri believes.

“I think the choice should not go to the young man – that’s the job of the team manager and the captain,” Shastri added.

“Usman should have been told, ‘You are taking strike’.

“If you go and ask that young kid, if he says, ‘I don’t want to take strike’, word would go around he’s soft.

“Don’t give him that opportunity. Go and tell the senior pro, ‘Go and take guard’.”

The decision to have McSweeney take guard for that opening over proved costly. And Australia never recovered.

Lee said the decision to go for McSweeney over an established opener is sending the wrong message.

“(McSweeney’s) a fantastic player, he’s done very well in Shield cricket but never actually had that opportunity to bat in that top position,” he said.

“Some will say if he bats three or four, is there a difference? Well it is a difference. It is a different role.

“He’s up against arguably the world’s greatest bowler in Jasprit Bumrah firstly on a green top on day one and then secondly he gets one to shoot through so he hasn’t had the rub of the green yet.

“The concern is, what message does that send to the other opening batsmen around Australia?

“We have heard of other players, (Cameron) Bancroft has done very well the last couple of years, Marcus Harris was thrown in the mix again that he was close, scoring runs. Sam Konstas who bats at the top of the order will have that opportunity as well. It’s concerning.”

AUSSIES HIT RECORD LOW

Australia’s renowned for its discipline and ruthlessness in the field, but after a bright start when Nathan McSweeney snared a sharp catch to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal on Friday, that certainly was not the case in Perth this week.

As Jaiswal and Virat Kohli extended India’s lead on day three, the Australians became sloppy in several facets of the game.

The hosts missed three run-out chances in the second innings, with Jaiswal, who scored 161, the fortuitous batter on each occasion. It’s never easy to hit the pegs from side on, but the Australians would have hoped at least one of those attempts would have hit the target.

Usman Khawaja, who turns 38 next month, also dropped two catches in the field, including an absolute dolly on Friday that proved comical only because he managed to rectify it a couple of deliveries later when dismissing promising all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.

The bowlers were lazy with their front foot, overstepping the popping crease on 15 occasions across the match.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh was the biggest culprit with nine no-balls, while even part-time spinner Marnus Labuschagne overstepped despite his short run-up.

Alex Carey’s wicketkeeping was also not quite as sharp. He conceded 22 byes in the second innings, the highest figure of his Test career to date.

A wayward spell from Josh Hazlewood with the second new ball was partly to blame for the added sundries, but mistakes started creeping into Carey’s glovework late on day three, particularly when keeping to spinner Nathan Lyon.

But former Australian spinner Kerry O’Keeffe said context was needed around this facet.

He noted this Perth pitch in particular had some gremlins which contributed to explosion in byes and Carey was clearly stiff on occasion that a couple of deliveries were not called wides instead.

“When the ball goes, it seems to leave the keeper either side (here). And you think, ‘Could he have got a hand to that?’. With some of them, no. They just passed him by. They’ve somehow hit a spot where they’ve just taken off and kept going on that trajectory.

“So I’m not reading too much into the number of extras. People will say, ‘Oh, Carey has had a poor game,’. I’m not. I’m not adhering to that theory. I think this is a very, very unique pitch in Australia. It settled down a bit (on Monday) but I think this is a unique ground.”

In total, Australia leaked 55 extras in the second innings. Only once before in Test history has the nation conceded more in a Test innings – against South Africa in Cape Town in 2009.

Most extras conceded by Australia in a Test innings

62 vs South Africa at Cape Town, 2009

55 vs India at Perth, 2024

52 vs England at Brisbane, 1982

52 vs India at Bengaluru, 2008

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE FOR MIDDLE ORDER

Aussie skipper Pat Cummins boldly stated he had the best five, six and seven – and it was that trio who bravely tried to save the nation from complete embarrassment.

Travis Head was at his brilliant best with his knock of 89 – a total more than the top four scored for the entire First Test.

Mitch Marsh added a handy 47 while Alex Carey made 36 in an innings that sadly came too late for Australia.

Aussie greats Brett Lee and David Warner were full of praise for the way Head went about his innings.

“He batted beautifully because he had the right intent,” Lee told foxsports.com.au

“He wasn’t out there to hang around or leave the ball – he was out there to score.

“He’s played some amazing shots. He’s a quality player.”

Warner said it was that attacking mindset that best served Head.

“I was happy for Trav to just come out here and play the way he knows best – that’s to go out there and attack,” he said.

“He’s got an array of shots – he can play 360 degrees.

“Once he’s set and once he’s in, he delivers that punch.

“When Trav first comes in, he sets up nice. He’s got a little bit of a prelim. Early on he might poke a little bit – that’s his nervous energy.

“But when he’s in, he’s got the ability to allow the ball to come to him.”
Head’s knock – which included an early LBW scare – came off 101 balls and featured eight fours, which is more than the rest of his team combined.

BACK TO GRADE CRICKET?

English great Michael Vaughan has called for Australia’s struggling No. 3 batsman Marnus Labuschagne to go find some form in grade cricket before turning out for the second Test in Adelaide next week.

Labuschagne is badly out of form and struggled against India with scores of 2 (52) and 3 (5) in Perth.

The calls to axe Labuschagne are growing louder and while Vaughan said selectors must pick and stick for the opening Tests of a series, he did offer another solution.

“There’s definitely a chat that has to happen (at some point) but I’m a big believer that when you pick a group at the start of a series, you’ve got to give them at least two or three games,” Vaughan said on Fox Cricket.

“They’ll go down 1-0 here then we’ve got the pink ball Test (in Adelaide) for the likes of (Nathan) McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne at No. 3, Steve Smith at No. 4.

“It was good to see Travis Head get runs today, Mitchell Marsh is absolutely fine and (Alex) Carey is probably the form player.

“But two or three of those players, they need to score, they need to find their confidence.

“It will be interesting to see what they do between the games. I just wonder if Marnus Labuschagne, is it worth him going to play some grade cricket at the weekend?

“Get out there and hit a few balls rather than arriving in Adelaide and facing the pink ball … is it worth him just going back to his roots and playing a bit of grade cricket.”

Former Australian player Kerry O’Keeffe said the best six batsmen in Australia simply weren’t getting picked at the moment.

“You bat with your feet, I’m old school and yesterday we saw (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, KL Rahul and (Virat) Kohli at the death and how they used their feet at the crease,” O’Keeffe said.

“Then you look at the Australia dismissals and feet are frozen around the crease line. The best user of their feet in the Australian squad is Josh Inglis and he’s not even in the team.

“They say we’ve got the best six batters but no (we don’t), unless the footwork improves, the moment they get on surfaces with a little bit of give in them, they’ve vulnerable and so it’s come to pass.”

‘HE COULD HURT AUSTRALIA’: FOX CRICKET EXPERTS PREDICT MORE GREATNESS FROM THE KING

At stumps on day two, as Indian openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal trudged off following their unbeaten century partnership, Virat Kohli greeted them in the outfield before heading out to do some more work with the bat on his own.

The Indian superstar was there partly to congratulate his teammates, but also to send a statement to the Australians — I’m still to come.

Kohli’s batting form was one of the most prevalent talking points ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener in Perth. During his previous 34 Tests, the right-hander had averaged 31.68 with just two hundreds in 60 knocks.

Once the most feared batter in world cricket, Kohli had become mediocre. There was genuine discussion on whether he was still in India’s best starting XI.

Kohli looked skittish in the first innings at Perth Stadium when batting a metre outside his crease and edging behind for 5. His critics only grew in volume when he dropped a regulation slip catch on Friday afternoon.

However, Kohli has relished batting on Australian decks throughout his Test career — Pat Cummins and his teammates were still fully aware of what he’s capable of — and Fox Cricket expert Kerry O’Keeffe has no doubt he realised he could cash in on Sunday.

“When Kohli is comfortable in the conditions, he’s a force of nature. You almost sensed that there was so much seam and movement on day one, he was vulnerable,” he told foxsports.com.au

“But he knew in the dugout waiting to bat when Jaiswal and Rahul were batting, that the pitch had settled down (and) there was not the same sideways movement, and you could almost see his moment ticking over. ‘I’ll get runs here,’. And so it came to pass.”

When the 36-year-old arrived at the crease on Sunday afternoon, Australia’s bowlers had already produced more than 84 overs in the sweltering heat.

They were starting to show signs of fatigue, with Hazlewood spraying the second new ball down the leg side and Mitchell Starc regularly dropping short. And Kohli feasted on his prey.

Australia’s bowlers toiled away, hoping their Indian rival would make a mistake – but Kohli was up to the task. For the most part, he looked unfazed by Nathan Lyon’s spin, the lone exception being a delivery that almost bowled him through the gate.

After the Indian batting maestro passed fifty, Australia seemingly gave up trying to take his wicket, instead pushing the field back and throwing the ball to part-timer Marnus Labuschagne, who bowled short outside leg stump in an attempt to stem the flow of runs.

The team’s priority appeared to be protecting their fast bowlers.

Kohli was unfazed by the negative bowling tactics, rocking back and nudging Labuschagne towards square leg or smacking him through mid-wicket.

The former Indian captain reached his century in 143 balls, delaying his celebration due to a faulty scoreboard at the venue. It was his seventh Test hundred on Australian soil, with only England legend Jack Hobbs bettering that tally.

Kohli’s Perth hundred won’t be remembered as his greatest Test knock — that is not due to the quality of his batting, instead the standard of the bowling he was confronted with.

But more importantly, Australia had allowed Kohli to find his feet and rediscover his form with four matches left to play – and the next Test is at Adelaide Oval, where he averages 63.62. They had awoken Kohli from his batting slumber, an ominous sign of things to come.

“I doubt that an overseas player has come to Australia in the last 15 years and played in this fashion,” former Indian coach Ravi Shastri said on Fox Cricket.

“The big stage, the big ground, one of the bounciest pitches in the world … he plays two Test matches and gets two hundreds.

“To set up the series, they call him the king – to get a hundred in the very first Test match, it’s a terrific signal for India, and it’s ominous from an Australian point of view.”

Now that Kohli has his eye in, O’Keeffe is concerned about what the Indian champion could do to Australia over the next six weeks.

“He’s a player who, once he assesses that conditions are his way, he’s such a competitor, and he’ll get on pitches throughout the series (that) he will say, ‘This is my pitch. This is my day,’. And he’ll hurt Australia,” he said.

“The nature of the pitches will determine the rest of his series. Australia will want him batting after 8.30pm at night in the pink ball Test. If he bats in the daytime, and India bowl at night, with Jasprit Bumrah after 8.30pm … anything could happen.”

WEST AUSSIES EXPRESS RED BALL APPETITE ‘WITH THEIR BUMS AND FEET’

Credit where it is due.

Kudos to the Western Australians who voted with their feet to show there is an appetite for the red ball format in the state and that Test cricket can thrive at Perth Stadium.

Barring Australia’s collapse in the opening innings, the opening Test would have extended into a fifth day and almost certainly resulted in a new record for matches played in the West.

There was significant criticism a year ago when less than 20,000 fans attended the opening day of the Test summer in a match featuring Pakistan. Empty seats far outnumbered fans.

Not so this time around, with more than 30,000 attending the first two days of the Test and another 26,000 on Sunday.

Had the prospect of a result been alive, it is probable Monday’s crowd would have at least doubled the 6,627 in a match that finished at 3.xx.

The total attendance was 96,463, which is a new record against India in Perth and second to the 103,440 the 2006/07 Ashes series.

After missing out on a Test when India last toured Australia, the WACA was determined to ensure they would be well-positioned to host in the 2024-25 series.

Former WACA chief executive Christina Matthews, whose tenure ended earlier this year, was also adamant that Cricket Australia needed to provide certainty.

That wish has been granted, with Perth locked in as host for the next couple of years as well, including the Ashes in 12 months time which is likely to break the current record.

Perth Stadium chief executive Mike McKenna said the clarity surrounding dates was a significant factor in the success of the First Test, from a crowd perspective.

“What’s really critical is when you have the First Test, you get teams here a week beforehand and there’s a lot of stories that come from that,” he told foxsports.com.au.

“We had the Indians seeming to be locking the media out and the public out of their training, and that whole thing created an area of excitement which we haven’t normally had. “Generally, the teams come a day or so before. You don’t see much of them. The game is on and that’s the first time people are even aware that there’s a Test match being played, so this is a real game changer.”

Steve Butler, formerly a Reporter at Large for The West Australian and current RWWA executive, is as passionate a Western Australian as there is.

He said the past four days had demonstrated there is a desire for elite cricket in Perth and points to the success domestic teams have had over the past decade as a pointer to the strength.

“I don’t believe Cricket Australia has treated Perth entirely brilliantly in terms of fostering the love for cricket here,” he said.

“But still, you look at this Test in Perth (and) people have gone out and voted with their bums and feet. So I think that says everything about what the appetite for it is here.

“You have a look at what Western Australia has achieved over the last three to four years. We’ve been the best cricketing state in the country in most forms of the game, if not all forms of the game. And that has obviously fostered some local interest.

“Everyone loves a winner, so that’s obviously fostered some local popularity for the sport.”

Much can change in 12 months, but McKenna is confident crowds of more than 40,000 will be in attendance in the infancy of the first Test of the Ashes in 2025.

“There is nothing better than the Ashes to get Australian fans on board and it’s a chance in WA to bring new people again to the Test match,” he said.

“(There will be) people who have always heard about the Ashes, but we haven’t had a chance to have one here. It was very hard to get into the WACA back in the day if you were a general public member. So this time there will be plenty of seats and it will be promoted.

“If we don’t get 40,000 plus crowds for the first couple of days, the first three days, it will probably be quite surprising and that then gives us a chance to then kick on for future years.”