AHMEDABAD: Cameron Green, as the kids would say, is legit. On Thursday, he took down the second new ball to shade the day in Australia's favour after the visitors won the toss on the best batting track of the series. On Friday, in what is perhaps the best batting conditions India has offered to any visiting team since the first Test at Chennai over two years ago (England were the beneficiaries then), the 23-year-old acquainted the fielders with various sides of the Narendra Modi Stadium, especially the boundary between cover and mid-off on both sides.
His innings was a masterpiece in the art of constructing a big score on a docile strip in conditions that would probably melt an ice cream in seconds. It feels like a long time ago but when Green, playing just his second Test in India, walked in at the fall of the fourth wicket, the visitors were actually in danger of ruining the advantage of winning the toss. At 4/170 and with both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne gone, there was a slight window of opportunity for the hosts. India sensed that opportunity too and targeted him with the short ball strategy.
Although Green is from Perth, playing short-pitched bowling in India can be a difficult proposition. With batters keen to get onto the front foot, it can be an effective weapon. Considering the bounce is hard to judge even on good batting surfaces, it makes it a bit harder. The third ball he faced was a bumper from Mohammed Shami and it hit his left hand. Given his considerable frame, the ball was at an awkward height and he was circumspect in fending it. Off Shami's next over, Green was hit on the right hand.
He survived the next few overs of spin to move on to 12 off 32 when the new ball was taken. That was when he flicked a switch and launched a late assault as the Indian bowlers and fielders were striving for that extra inch on a hot day. He cut and drove Umesh Yadav before pulling Shami almost through the mid-on region. A few balls later, he drove him down the ground as a trickle of runs increased to a late flurry. Between the time India took the new ball till the time the umpire at the striker's end signalled stumps, Green had scored 37 from 32 balls to be unbeaten on 49.
On Friday morning, it felt that Green was the one who would assume the role of moving the innings forward while Usman Khawaja would continue to do his own thing; nurdling the bowling, flicking to the on side and quietly playing chess with the bowlers he had spoken about on Thursday. And so it proved to be the case but not before the 23-year-old showed some good, old-fashioned Test batting values like 'getting your eye in', 'reading the pitch' and 'seeing off the first hour'.
To be fair to Khawaja, both batters did this but the 36-year-old seemed to be doing this throughout the visitors' innings. Unlike some of the other Australian middle-order batters in this series, Green's big weapon against both pace and spin are his long levers. On these slow wickets, his first movement has seen him come onto the front foot. He had already displayed some parts of that in Indore during his patient 94-minute, 57-ball 21.
That long stride forward meant the spinners hardly got a sniff against him, irrespective of the nature of the surface. Against the pacers, his front foot meant he was able to drive on the up to anything that was a bit full. Firstly, though, it was about getting the basics right. Australia's plan was clear; bat as long as possible without worrying about the scoreboard. That was the primary reason why their first 15 scoring shots across the opening 64 balls on Friday were singles.
Green was on five off 20 for the day when Ravichandran Ashwin erred in line and length. It was asking to be hit for four and the batter obliged. From manoeuvring his car in peak Bengaluru traffic, Green was on the highway. Umesh Yadav's fuller-length deliveries provided some additional fuel as Green raced along from 66 to 106 to 95 off 135. This sequence included three fours down the ground, all of them through the mid-off region, in one Yadav over. After having India for lunch in the first session, the two batters came back in the second session to continue their merriment. A short ball from Ravindra Jadeja was crunched through point for Green's maiden 100 and his celebrations told its own story. He was dismissed soon after but you can't help but think that it will be the first of many.
Khawaja too was dismissed in a second session that saw them slightly lose their way but they still made an imposing 480; the highest total by a visiting team in India since England made 578 at Chennai two years ago.