The mind games that forced Sharma into poor first spell

A week after setting the tone by skittling Aaron Finch’s stumps in Adelaide, Ishant Sharma’s skittish start to the second Test suggested the spearhead’s no-ball dramas may be playing on his mind.

Sharma started his first spell of the four-Test series in emphatic fashion, uprooting two stumps while dismissing Finch for a duck to put India on track for a 31-run victory.

The veteran was far less threatening during his four-over spell in Perth on Friday morning, when he was handed the new ball and asked to create chaos on a green-tinged pitch.

Sharma was taken out of the attack after struggling to hit the 130 km/h mark in his fourth over, which featured three boundaries and a no-ball.

Former Australia paceman Damien Fleming suggested recent scrutiny of Sharma’s habit of overstepping may have been a factor in his ineffectual opening spell.

“We saw in his first over he wasn’t pushing the line,” Fleming said on Seven.

“Maybe he’s running in looking at the line and not focusing on where he wants the ball to go.

“The radar isn’t working for Ishant today, he has been all over the place. He has been too wide.

“He is really conscious of bowling no-balls.”

Mark Waugh, calling the game for Fox Cricket, suggested Sharma looked “awkward” and not at all comfortable.

Sharma has been a near-constant presence in the headlines since the end of the first Test, with footage revealing he should have been called for 16 no-balls in Australia’s first innings of the series opener.

Sharma was denied the scalp of Finch in Australia’s second innings of the first Test because of a no-ball then overstepped again when he looked to have captured the final wicket of the thrilling match.

Tim Paine urged umpires to crackdown on no-balls during his pre-match press conference in Perth.

“I’m glad it’s been brought up and certainly been spoken about,” Paine said.

“I don’t think it’s a great look for the game.

“Hopefully they police it really well this game.”

Opening Perth session goes Aussies’ way

Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris have survived the opening session of the second Test with few concerns, piloting Australia to 0-66 after staring down India’s four-prong pace attack in Perth.

Finch and Harris, who combined for partnerships of zero and 28 in their side’s series-opening defeat in Adelaide, both applied themselves diligently in sapping heat – tipped to hit 38 degrees.

Finch is 28 not out, while Harris is unbeaten on 36.

Both captains were keen to bat first but also acknowledged batting was likely to be difficult on Friday given the green-tinged pitch was expected to offer plenty of pace and bounce.

But India’s quicks, apart from Mohammed Shami, fluffed their lines early and failed to produce many bouncers on a good length.

Shami went close to trapping Finch lbw on 24 with his first two deliveries.

Virat Kohli unsuccessfully reviewed the first not-out verdict then opted against referring the second, which ball-tracking technology judged to be ‘umpire’s call’.

Finch and Harris kept the scoreboard ticking over in the opening hour, but the introduction of Shami proved a game changer, with his fellow fast bowlers also improving their consistency to dry up the runs and build immense pressure late in the morning session.

Australia scored 21 runs from the final 15 overs before lunch.

The hosts’ most-nervous moment in that stretch was an edge that flew off Finch’s bat and past second slip, taking the Victorian’s score to 27.

Finch’s promising innings could also have ended on 14, when he took off for a quick single after stroking the ball to covers and was promptly sent back by Harris.

Kohli pounced on the ball but missed the stumps as a diving Finch scrambled to make his ground.

It was a far-more encouraging start for local fans compared to Australia’s season-opening ODI loss at the same venue, when they slipped to 6-66 after 21 overs.

India hold a 1-0 lead in the four-match series and will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy if they win in Perth.