After four successive series wins against Australia - home and away - India will exit the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a draw as their best possible result. A win in the final Test is unlikely to see them through to their third consecutive World Test Championship final either, as question marks over Rohit Sharma the captain continue.

Despite the 184-run drubbing in the fourth game, the match still ebbed and flowed, presenting both sides with plenty of chances but India’s failure to latch onto them ended up hurting them.

A careless, careless run out

Australia had scored 474 in the first innings and India had quickly been reduced to 51-2 in reply. It brought Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli to the crease, with their contrasting approaches bringing India back into the game. While Jaiswal played his strokes, Kohli showed great discipline, shying away from the balls on the off-stump channel against which he has struggled recently.

However, an ill-timed run out changed it all. A complete loss of communication - Kohli was ball-watching and Jaiswal decided to run nevertheless - resulted in the left-hander walking back for 82 late on day two, with five overs to go until stumps. India were 152-2 before his departure but slumped to 159-5 in the next 21 balls. Kohli, seemingly flustered at the run out, fell edging one to the wicketkeeper, undoing the 85 balls of hard work before that while nightwatch Akash Deep was dismissed for a duck.

With the MCG producing its best batting conditions on day three, the last half-hour proved to be huge in the context of the game. Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy applied themselves the following day to take India within 105 runs of Australia’s total, but how close could India have got had it been Jaiswal and Kohli walking out on day three?

Two “stupid, stupid” shots

Rishabh Pant, known for his audacious batting, started the proceedings for India on day three, alongside Ravindra Jadeja. With the follow-on target still to overhaul, the two stitched together a solid stand. Pant, however, couldn't resist being Pant. He attempted a pick up lap over fine leg off Scott Boland but missed, before attempting it all over again on the very next ball. He did not get the desired power and only sent a top edge to the fielder at third, who had been positioned for that very shot.

There had hardly been much help for the bowlers in the first ten overs on day three, and Pant gifted his wicket away, exposing the lower middle order.

It was deja vu in the second innings too. Chasing a daunting total, India once again lost early wickets but Jaiswal and Pant saw off the entire second session, as India hoped. Just five overs after the break, though, Pant played a wild shot off a bad ball, falling to part-timer Travis Head. His dismissal opened the floodgates for India: From 121-3, they fell to 130-6 and were eventually all out for 155.

All the buttery, buttery fingers

Catches win matches, a boring, old adage but one that haunted India at the MCG. After conceding a healthy lead, India needed to be charged up in Australia’s second innings. There was no shortage of energy, often a complaint around India of late. This time, the bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah of course, had Australia at 91-6 at one stage.

The opportunity to send back Marnus Labuschagne, who had frustrated India, making 46 in 93 balls was spurned when he guided Akash Deep to gully, where Jaiswal dropped a sitter. Jaiswal had also dropped Usman Khawaja in the third over, but this one would hurt India more. Australia were 100-6 at the stage.

A few overs later, Cummins, who was batting with Labuschagne, also got a lifeline, courtesy of Jaiswal again, who was at silly point this time. Australia were 135-6 here.

The seventh wicket stand was eventually broken when the team score was 148, but more than the amount of runs, it was the time they spent at the crease that hurt India. Labuschagne and Cummins batted almost 20 overs and the soft ball only made it harder for the India bowlers to wipe off the tail.

A frustrating, frustrating stand

Following the wicket of Labuschagne in the second innings, India quickly picked the next two wickets as well, leaving Australia at 173-9 when Boland and Nathan Lyon joined hands. The target was still not beyond reach, and India would have felt they were in the game. The batters had other ideas, though, stitching together a 61-run stand that lasted 19.3 overs, pushing India’s target over the 330-run mark.

Several decisions were baffling. Rohit regularly had open fields against the two, contrary to what his counterpart Cummins had when India’s lower order was batting. Here, the larger issue of India’s team selection also came into the picture. With Mohammed Siraj blowing hot and cold and Akash Deep running out of luck, a clearly overbowled Bumrah would have hoped for some support. Jadeja, Reddy and Sundar bowled only 19 overs in the innings, leaving Rohit with no choice but to turn to Bumrah to break the stand. Bumrah tried until he could no more, uttering “Enough now” at one stage. He sent down 53.2 overs in the MCG Test, and the last-wicket stand proved just why India need at least four proper pace options.

A muddled, muddled approach

India’s run chase in the second innings was bewildering. It seemed there was a lack of plan, with no batter actively trying to cut down their scoring shots. With a target of 340 ahead of them, a win was near impossible, and saving the game needed the batting line-up to bring out their defensive game. Barring KL Rahul, who got an unplayable ball, the other top-order batters had frustrating dismissals. Rohit, who had batted patiently for 40 balls, played an aggressive stroke towards midwicket, which led to his downfall. Jaiswal, who made 84 in 208, had some lucky saves as he attacked and missed more than a couple of times, but he was dismissed controversially after playing a short ball. Kohli fell playing a needless shot an over before lunch. Pant’s dismissal was bizarre as well.

If the message from the dressing room was clear, the batters should have dead-batted most of the balls, looking to play out time instead. The approach only suggested a confused strategy.

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