Steven Smith had a tough day as captain in Brisbane too, but there he maintained an outward calm at least; today, as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul gathered their runs, he was harried and did not handle things at optimum levels
Daniel Brettig at the SCG08-Jan-20151:41
‘Cannot afford to drop someone like Kohli’
Until Shane Watson popped up with his first return of more than one wicket in a Test innings since November 2011, the most indelible image of Australia’s third day at the SCG was Steven Smith sprawled on the pink sponsors’ logo at the Randwick End, pointing accusingly up at “the f****** wire”.Quite apart from the unnecessary complications of trying to take a catch through the wires of Spidercam, this was Smith’s most difficult day as captain since his first, also in the field at a sweltering Gabba. Wickets were hard to come by, chances were not taken, and in KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, Smith and his bowlers found a pair of Indian batsmen not prepared to bow to Australia’s gargantuan first-innings tally.In Brisbane, Smith had faced up to his first challenging day as captain with an energetic smile and only the occasional grimace. His visage remained largely calm, even though three bowlers succumbed to ailments of various kinds, and M Vijay set a strong agenda for the the match with a fine 144. Smith’s only transgression had been to allow the over rate to sag, leaving him with a fine and the threat of a suspension by the end of a match that would be turned around to a victory inside four days.But at the SCG Smith was harried and frustrated by events, both those conspiring against him and others he could have handled better.The Spidercam episode was clearly a case of the former – though Smith was shielding his eyes from the midday sun, the sight of the camera itself in his peripheral vision and the wires in his line of sight to the ball directly above him were a distraction no international cricketer should have to cope with when trying to claim a catch. His frustrations at that moment were obvious, and the Australians fumed through their lunch break as Cricket Australia and Channel Nine drafted up a joint statement that grudgingly conceded the operators’ error.Adversity is one thing, how it is handled quite another. As Darren Lehmann said of his words to the team at the interval: “Yeah just play the game, can’t change the past – if you could you’d be a millionaire wouldn’t you? So from our point of view it’s a case of getting on with the job at hand and bowling a lot better. I thought we bowled pretty well all day, and create more chances, then we obviously put down another one. So you can’t worry about what happens, you’ve got to try to create more chances.”Australian frustration at Rahul’s reprieve lingered into the afternoon nonetheless, and the critical chance went down at a time when the red mist had not yet lifted. As he did in Melbourne, Kohli offered up a brief period of vulnerability against the second new ball, which was used very well by Mitchell Starc in what has been an encouraging effort as the team’s nominal strike bowler this Test.There were moments on day three at the SCG when Steven Smith’s frustrations were all too obvious•Getty ImagesHis extraction of some useful swing in his first over was complemented by additional bounce in his second, and a perfectly pitched ball across Kohli drew an ideal edge. The ball traveled at a height and a pace, but Smith was ideally placed to take it over his head. Spidercam did not obscure his vision, but its memory probably clouded his mind. Smith’s hands were not sufficiently soft, and the ball burst through.Immediately his head bowed, and he stood motionless as Kohli gained an extra two runs on the way to a fourth hundred of the series. Smith had led by example with his catching in Brisbane, but now he had been unable to do so.Joe Burns was the other target for the ball, his long shift at short leg drawing no fewer than three shots from Rahul that reached him on the full. No chance was straightforward, but one of these would have been enough to lift the team. Short leg has not been a specialist position for Australia since Smith gained the captaincy, with Chris Rogers vacating after he was struck badly in Brisbane. It is not pleasant, but the likes of David Boon and Simon Katich have shown the value of a consistent posting.Once Kohli and Rahul had both made their hundreds, Australian shoulders were sagging. Rogers was off the field with a back spasm, and Starc responded to his return catch of Rahul with a tired non-celebration. At this moment of weakness, Watson responded with a nagging spell, enjoying the good fortune that had eluded him when he earlier coaxed Rahul into the stroke that flirted with Nine’s camera.A skidder thudded into Ajinkya Rahane’s back thigh, seeming to keep lower than it did and causing Richard Kettleborough to raise his finger. Suresh Raina had become well acquainted as a source of hope for opposition Test bowlers at the time he lost his place, and once again he did so, offering an open face at a ball going across him and edging into the hands of a suddenly gleeful Brad Haddin, who appeared to be grinning even before the ball reached him.These two balls served to even out the day somewhat, and in their huddle the Australians would have done well to remember that for all the travails of the technology suspended above their heads, they had also enjoyed a share of good fortune. Not least of this was the Nathan Lyon offbreak that shot through under Rohit Sharma’s bat to bowl him.Had Smith held that catch from Starc, the concerns about Spidercam would not have lingered anywhere near as much. The luck had evened out enough to conclude they had not, in the end, been more sinned against than sinning.