After India's loss in Perth Test, exasperated fans explode Twitter as they thrash Indian openers, poor team selection
It took less than two hours for Australia to wipe out India's tail and level series at 1-1 with a 146-run victory in the second Test at Perth on Tuesday.
It was yet another trashy show with the willow from the Indian tail-enders as they failed to even survive a whole session on Day 5 when India were 175 runs away from the target of 287.
In addition to that already existing issue, the Indian openers - Murali Vijay and KL Rahul - burdened the other batsmen by repeatedly failing to give India the required starts.
The Indian opening pair was so bad that the two together scored 22 runs, while Australia's tail-enders (Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood) together scored over 70 runs.
Moreover, the Indian captain and management miserably failed to read the pitch accurately ahead of the Perth Test.
They didn't go with a regular spinner because Kohli and the management thought the fast bowlers would be good enough to win them a Test at Perth as well.
"It was really pleasing to see the way our bowlers bowled relentlessly. When we looked at the pitch, we didn't think about that (Jadeja) option. We thought four quicks would be enough. Nathan Lyon bowled really well on this wicket. With the skill levels and consistency that he has to get something out of this wicket was really good. We never thought about the spin option to be honest," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
And, the Player of the Match turned out to be Ashwin's counterpart and rival Nathan Lyon, who picked up eight wickets.
Here's how an angry Twitter reacted to India's Perth loss:
With a loss in the Perth Test, Kohli equalled former legendary Indian skipper MAK Pataudi but in a record that could hurt him for a while.
India have now lost nine Tests under the captaincy of Kohli while chasing a target in the fourth innings of a Test - that is the joint most under any Indian captain alongside late Pataudi.
