Brisbane: Shikhar Dhawan's injury in the practice nets was a major distraction for India in the minutes before play resumed Saturday in the second Test against Australia, upsetting the balance of the team so badly that it contributed to a batting collapse.
Dhawan, who was 26 not out overnight, was hit on the right wrist when he batted in the nets as he prepared to go back out for day four with India's second-innings total at 71-1.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said team management initially thought Dhawan would be OK, but he didn't recover quickly and the late decision was made to send Virat Kohli to the crease in his place. Kohli had been hit on the left wrist in practice, and the combined injuries sparked complaints from India about the state of the practice facilities.
Kohli, who scored centuries in both innings of India's 48-run loss in the first test at Adelaide, faced just 11 deliveries Saturday before he chopped a Mitchell Johnson ball back onto his stumps. And that's when the slide started. India lost four wickets for 11 runs in 20 balls and never properly recovered before losing by four wickets
"We could only give Virat five to 10 minutes' notice that he would go in," Dhoni said. "That was one area where we could have handled the situation better, but it's something we will have to take into our stride."
By the time Dhawan went back out to the crease, India was reeling at 117-6. He scored 81 runs to prolong the innings but his dismissal, trapped lbw attempting to sweep Nathan Lyon, came not long before India was dismissed for 224. That left Australia needing just 128 to win with more than four sessions remaining.
Ishant Sharma (3-38) removed David Warner (6), Shane Watson (0) and Chris Rogers (55) and Umesh Yadav ran out Steve Smith (28) and had Shaun Marsh (17) and Brad Haddin (1) caught to briefly renew India's victory hopes. But Johnson and Mitchell Marsh guided the Australians to 130-6, giving them a 2-0 lead with two tests remaining in the series.
"It is disappointing, but at the same time what's more important is to reason out why exactly it happened," Dhoni said. "I thought today's first session was very crucial and I don't think we handled it very well and that was one of the main reasons," we lost.
India team management said it had been asking for several days for fresh pitches to be prepared in the nets but it had not happened.
"Instead of that, they have asked (us) to practice on worn out wickets which (have) uneven bounce," the team said in a statement. "Because of that two of our batsmen got injured."
Australian players defended the facilities, with skipper Smith saying the wearing practice wickets reflected the playing surface and that was ideal for preparation. Dhoni later said he didn't want to stir up more controversy, and limited his appraisal to saying only that the nets could be improved.
The India captain credited his team with competing right to the end, and said it set them up for a better performance in the third test starting in Melbourne on Boxing Day.
"There are plenty of positives. We have been able to take wickets. We have seen the execution power of our fast bowlers has increased - Ishant is the leader of the pack; Varun (Aaron) is still raw, he does go for runs, but it's exciting to see somebody from India bowling at a good pace and using the bouncer to get the opposition out.
"There's plenty of areas we're showing improvement, but we're still not crossing the line. It's more like a wine that is brewing. We need to give it a bit more time. Once they start crossing that line, once they harness that aggression in the right channel, you'll see plenty of good results from this side.
Indian team management's press release on Dhawan's injury:
Team India has been asking for fresh net practice wickets at the Gabba several times for last two days but our request has not been met. We have been asked to practice on worn out wickets with uneven bounce, because of which two of our batsmen have injured themselves today morning.
One of the two batsmen, Shikar Dhawan – who was one of the overnight batsmen on the fourth morning of the Test – had a right wrist injury due to which he was unable to bat in the morning. He is been examined by our physio, who will assess his fitness in time.
