Australia rely on Handscomb to help solve high-stakes puzzle against India

With Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne knocked out, it was Peter Handscomb who carried the campaign against spin

For Australia’s cricketers in India, working out how to bat on local pitches has meant solving a puzzle. One with high stakes, in real time. They cycle through the options: advance to the ball, or sweep to reach its pitch? Reverse sweep to find gaps? Open a stance to avoid being closed off? Attack early to push catchers back? Every choice has threats that it nullifies and new ones it invites, especially with quality purveyors of spin making counter-adjustments at the other end.

On the first day of the Delhi Test, Peter Handscomb appeared to have solved the puzzle. For a time, Usman Khawaja found a way, too. On a pitch that offered sharp turn from ball one even if it was slow enough to sometimes play off the surface, their partnership in the middle of the innings was worth 59, while Khawaja was the consistent presence in helping add 108 beforehand and Handscomb in another 94 afterwards. A total of 263 does not equal cricketing riches, but it was an advance on the previous week’s capitulation in Nagpur.

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