Australia equals the Border Gavaskar Trophy by 1-1, sealing an easy win against India by 10 wickets, as Usman Khawaja hits the winning run. At Perth, Australia lost by a historic and their highest ever margin of 295 runs and has now hammered India by a big margin. Courtesy goes to Mitchell Starc, who took 8 wickets in both innings, with captain Pat Cummins leading from the front, taking a fifer in the second. With the bat, Travis Head has been the costliest man against India, scoring 140 runs, stealing the match away singlehandedly. The other guy who was under scrutiny for dip in form, Marnus Labuschagne too, came back and contributed 64 runs. Captaincy blunders from clueless Rohit Sharma The first questionable decision Rohit Sharma took was to demote himself to the middle order. KL Rahul, who opened the first innings, indeed looked strong in that position, but he struggled in this Test. Even when it was speculated that Rohit would smash once the ball get softer, he failed—3 runs in the first inning and 6 in the second. Forget about the batting, but the captain on the field can be heavily questioned. Many pointed out how ordinary Indian bowling was to Travis Head. Having head and Labuschagne, Australia overtook India's first inning score of 180 runs just by loosing 3 wickets. The bowling looked clueless. Jasprit Bumrah was the only ray of hope, picking up three wickets in the first inning. He took Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, and later Steve Smith. When Bumrah looked in rhythm, the captain limited his overs. Despite seeing the young Harshit Rana struggling, he took 14 overs to bring Ravichandran Ashwin into attack. Notably, Ashwin has traditionally been a pro with the new ball at Adelaide. Nitish Reddy: the ray of Hope 42 runs in each inning when seniors and hyped teammates struggled in the twenties and thirties. This bloke outperformed his teammates, be it with ramp or classic textbook shots. Every time the pitch looked to aid the bowlers, both in Perth or Adelaide, Nitish Reddy looked fearless. In the two Tests, Reddy took blows on his body and simultaneously scored 163 runs while batting down the order and running out of partners. - 41(59) in first Test.- 38(27) in first Test. - 42(54) in Second Test.- 42(47) in Second Test. TAKE A BOW, NITISH KUMAR REDDY. The future is here for Indian Cricket 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/MHuEoUejeN — Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 8, 2024 Selecting him was a matter of debate. Nitish Reddy came as a replacement for injured Shardul Thakur. The Indian team Head Coach Gautam Gambhir faced criticism for selecting him, but Reddy did not disappoint him, probably making a permanant mark in the Test team. Watch Nitish Reddy's dismissal in the second inning: The rare caught-at-fly-slip! Pat Cummins raises the pink ball with his fifth wicket! #AUSvIND | #MilestoneMoment | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/kVKBdW346Q — cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 8, 2024 Half-hearted effort on the field Be it in the outfield or behind the stumps, India lacked efforts. Head was given life at least twice—one in the Ashwin's over when Siraj dropped the catch and in the Rana's over as Pant failed to reach the ball by millimeters. Virat Kohli left a catch at the slip cordon off Bumrah, and another one happened when a misjudgment from Pant got the ball deflected to Rohit Sharma's ankle, causing him pain. There are instances when the tired legs failed to reach the ball and misfielded, giving extra runs to the host. Notably, in the first inning, India gave 21 extra runs, 13 coming from byes. Read also: Travis Head vs Mohammad Siraj: Heated clash in Adelaide Test escalates with shocking claims Batting uncertainty The Indian team seems to stand solely on bowling, massively on Bumrah, with the batters contributing in intervals. If seen the first inning against Australia, all they needed was KL's wicket, and the rest walked out the wagon wheel within minutes. Sorry to say, but Rishabh Pant is becoming a man of cameos, entertaining the crowd with shots not seen in Test cricket. Special mention about Virat Kohli, who needs immediate treatment for his love towards outside the stump delivery. centuries once in a full moon conditions won't be working at least in this series, as the World Test Championship qualification is breating over the shoulders. The top order has been massively struggling, including Rohit Sharma, if examined in the last few Test matches. The little bit of respect the scoreboard gets, mainly due to the lower middle order—be it Dhruv Jurel against England or Reddy against Australia, and that indeed sounds concerning.