‘Brain fade’ haunts Australia again, Aaron Finch the victim this time

The bitter battle between Indian cricket team and the Australian cricket team in the Test series in March is history now. The limited overs series between the two teams have seen no tussles like the ones that marred the long-format contest earlier this year. (IND vs AUS first T20I highlights)

In the four-Test series which India won 2-1, things got very nasty. After the second Test in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli accused Steve Smith of abusing the Decision Review System (DRS), after he was seen looking at the Australian dressing room while considering an appeal against his lbw dismissal. (IND vs AUS first T20I scorecard)

Smith admitted his fault, and labelled it as a one-off “brain fade”. That term set the tone for rest of the series which India won despite a great fight from Australia.

Another brain-fade

With Australia beaten badly in the ODI series as well as in the first T20I, the fierce competition is nowhere to be seen in the limited-overs but the term came back to the fore once again.

Finch, who top-scored for the Aussies with a 30-ball 42, described his dismissal to Kuldeep Yadav as the result of a ‘brain fade’.

“I thought on that wicket, to Kuldeep, sweeping was a safer option than taking him over the top. Some balls were spinning,” said Finch.

“It was hard to judge the bounce on a track that was quite difficult. I found sweeping was a safer option, one to get off strike and to get a boundary as well if I could pick out a gap, but I kept picking out a fielder” Finch said after the game,” he added. “The ball that I got out on was a little bit of brain fade, I went to sweep and just tried to chip him on the onside for one, and missed it.”

The delivery that the Australian opener was referring to happened in the 10th over of the Australian innings with Finch batting on 42. Against Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, he looked like he was attempting a sweep but then changed his mind at the last moment and tried to play him on the on-side. By then the ball had rattled the stumps.

Smith present

Ironically, Smith, who was ruled out of the series earlier with a shoulder injury, watched from the sidelines as his team’s top-scorer returned back to the pavilion due to an apparent ‘brain-fade’.

Last time, an Aussie -- Smith -- had ‘brain-fade’, it resulted in a pumped up Indian cricket team eking out a Test series win. This time around, with a loss in the first T20I, he would only hope that his team tries to put a great fight in the next two matches.