India vs Australia 2nd Test: For India, life's a Mitch at the Gabba

BRISBANE: India weren't playing cricket with a wrecking ball on Friday, but they certainly made it seem like it. They were merely facing Mitchell Johnson, who can now legitimately claim the 'poor man's Keith Miller' tag. That's not a back-handed compliment but rather a testimony of Johnson's ability to elevate his primary craft - to intimidate opponents with the ball - after he has shadow practised the attitude with the bat.
Johnson also has this irritating knack of repeating himself at the Gabba.
The Indians should have been wary overnight. Some of Johnson's best performances have come after having a hard yakka with the bat, as the Queenslanders might say. Think South Africa in 2009, or at the Gabba last year, when he added 114 with Brad Haddin and then came back to demolish England with nine wickets in the game, and 37 in the series at 13.96. Or at the Gabba on Friday, when he was allowed to make 88 and turn the game.
India also allowed incidents at the practice pitch before the day's play to linger just a bit longer in their minds. Johnson did the rest. It's worth recalling the enormity of India's batting collapse in the first hour of play, which cost them the Test. They were 71/1 overnight, just 26 behind the Aussies, and a tantalizing day's play loomed. Then the 'Mitch Effect' happened.
Johnson got one to angle away from Virat Kohli, who suddenly stumbled upon the old habit of playing with hard hands and a not-so-straight bat and chopped it on to the stumps. Rahane got a scorcher which he guided to backward point. Rohit Sharma nicked one to Haddin. Johnson had 310 and another one of India's trademark collapses had happened in the blink of an eye.
Luck and momentum were both with the Aussies. On more than one wicket-taking occasion Johnson's feet were only marginally behind the line, and the umpire ruled in his favour. Dhoni was given LBW to Hazlewood shuffling way, way out of his crease, and Ashwin didn't seem to have inside-edged the ball. Nonetheless, India deservingly went from 711 to 875.Then the Hazlewood and Gabba bounce did Pujara in, and it was all over. The Test was effectively lost before lunch. The rest of the day was about filling in the remaining blanks in the scorecard.
Shikhar Dhawan, playing with in jury after having damaged his right wrist in practice, then staged a wellmeaning but eventually futile rescue act, adding 60 with Umesh Yadav and not showing any obvious signs of discomfort. But although he managed an impressive 81, the passive-aggressive behaviour with the bat did not suit him. There were to be no miracles for India as the Aussies chased 128 and even relaxed a bit in the process. The bowlers -particularly Ishant - fought gamely, exposing some ise sues in the Aussie line-up, but with such a small target the point was moot. The Aussies found the most un likely of heroes in Chris Rodgers but e eventually symmetry had its say: Johnson was at the crease when Mitchell r Marsh hit the winning runs, having arrived to a standing ovation minutes earlier.