Ageing stars: Why Australia might never recover from Perth punch

World Test champions Australia suffered a humbling defeat in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Captain Pat Cummins, who had previously warned India about the challenges of a spicy Perth pitch, experienced one of the most chastening losses of his Test career. India, defying expectations, outplayed Australia at their own game to deliver the first blow in this much-anticipated series.
Rarely has an Australian team capitulated so meekly, especially on home soil, as they did against a weakened Indian side in Perth.
Australia’s top order—featuring Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne—was utterly ineffective, collectively failing to amass even 50 runs across the Test. The result? A staggering 295-run loss, marking their heaviest home defeat against India.
AUS vs IND, 1st Test: Day 4 Highlights | Scorecard
The events in Perth seem a forewarning for Australia, who were thoroughly outclassed by a revitalised Indian pace attack. With two debutants—Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy—joining Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, India fielded a new-look pace quartet that dominated proceedings.
While India were projected as the underdogs after losing their home series against New Zealand, they showed why a champion side should never be counted out in any conditions. That too in Australia, where the quality of the Indian fast bowling attack gets amplified, due to the natural help they get from the pitches. The Indian batters are also feeling more at home Down Under after having been choked by spin back in India.
Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian captain, sounded a warning to Australia post-match. When asked if he preferred Perth-like pitches for the rest of the series, a glint of confidence was evident in his reply.
“I’d never mind a wicket with bounce and seam. I enjoy watching fast bowlers thrive on such surfaces. Over here, it’s a different challenge with the Kookaburra ball—it offers seam movement and bounce, but once it gets older, batting becomes easier, and bowlers need to be more precise and innovative,” Bumrah said.
“I wouldn’t call it [Perth] a bowler’s paradise, but I’d be more than happy if the wickets stayed like this—pacey and bouncy.”
With a bruised face after a stinging first punch, the question looms: can Australia recover from this thrashing?
The performance of Australia’s top order in Perth paints a worrying picture. Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne all fell cheaply, making the Perth pitch appear far more treacherous than it was.
Khawaja edged to the slips in the first innings and succumbed to a short ball in the second.
Steve Smith was trapped lbw first ball in the first innings and edged to the keeper in the second.
Labuschagne, often seen as Smith’s protégé, appeared entirely out of sorts, dismissed lbw in both innings and showed little intent to score.
Labuschagne faced the harshest criticism for his dismal performance. Former cricketer Simon Katich, speaking to the broadcaster, highlighted the batter’s overly defensive mindset as his undoing.
“His defensive mindset cost him. He faced over 50 balls in the first innings. He said before the series that he wanted to bat like [Cheteshwar] Pujara, but the difference is Pujara scores runs. Virat Kohli summed it up on the stump mic the other day, saying, ‘What’s happened to your bat, mate? You’re not using it.’ And that says a lot. In the second innings, he once again shouldered arms—with predictable results. He looks too afraid of nicking the ball,” Katich observed.
Michael Vaughan added his concerns, pointing to Australia’s lack of depth. “This batting line-up looks brittle, and there’s no one knocking on the door to challenge their spots. If I were an Australian fan, I’d be worried about the lack of competition within the squad,” Vaughan said on Fox Sports.
“The standards in a team are often driven by players vying for places. Right now, I don’t see anyone doing that,” he concluded.
The fact that Alex Carey averages the highest – 33.55 – in Test matches for Australia in 2024 is a telling indictment of how bad a form this Australian batting line-up has been in, in the calendar year.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are 6th and 7th on the list respectively, having scored 245 and 230 runs. While Labuschagne averages 24.50, Smith averages 25.55 after playing 6 matches each in 2024. Khawaja on the other hand is not better, averaging 26 in 6 Tests.
Australia’s vaunted pace attack—featuring Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc—looked far from their best. While Hazlewood claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, the trio struggled to contain Indian batters Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli in the second. India piled on the runs, setting a mammoth target.
The absence of Cameron Green, Australia’s reliable fourth seamer, was sorely felt. Forced to use seven bowling options, including Labuschagne and Travis Head, Australia’s bowling attack looked desperate and fatigued. At one point, Labuschagne was bowling negative lines to prevent Indian batters from scoring quickly, much to the dismay of some of the Australian legends who lashed out at it.
Australia bowled a total of 134.3 overs in the second innings of the game and got hit for 487 runs, at over 3.5 runs per over in difficult batting conditions. In reply, Australia folded in just 58.4 overs after their top order went back home inside 15 runs.
As the series moves to Adelaide for the Pink Ball Test, Australia’s prospects look bleak. Traditionally dominant under lights, their faltering form and depleted confidence could spell trouble against India’s fired-up pace battery, led by Bumrah.
If Australia falters in Adelaide, a once-unthinkable 5–0 series loss could come into focus. More likely, though, is that this series will spell the end of the careers of some of the finest servants of Australian cricket.