No cricket match, particularly a Test match is over before the last ball is bowled. But in this last Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Series between India and Australia, the Australian players will have to repeat that to themselves over and over again for the next three days. With India leading 2-1 in the series, all they need is a draw here to rewrite history. Australia, on the other hand, has to win this Test match to save the series and salvage some face while preventing India from winning the first ever test series Down Under. Losing this test match or even salvaging a draw will hurt the Australians as much as losing the Ashes 1-3 to England led by Andrew Strauss in 2010-11. Being subjugated by India in a Test series at home for the first time in 71 years could only make it worse.
Kohli declared when India had scored 622 runs and had lost 7 wickets. I am sure that none of the Australian bowlers will decline an opportunity to vote for Chateshwar Pujara if there is a poll to award the most tiresome batsman batsmen to bowl to. If Pujara bruised the bowlers with his 193 runs in 373 balls, Rishab Pant rubbed salt into the wound by scoring a brilliant 159 off 189 balls. Wickets where hard to come by and the Australians had to make do with just two of them in the 77.2 overs that they bowled today. Hanuma Vihari was first caught Labuschagne at short cover off Lyon when India was on 418 runs. Along with Pujara, he had put together a partnership of 101 runs.
The seventh-wicket partnership was the one that cemented India’s chances of walking away with a series win for the first time in Australia. Rishab Pant and Rajendra Jadeja stitched together a partnership of 204 runs with the former scoring a century and a half and the later a trademark sword-wielding 81 runs in good time. Rishabs Pant’s inning was a revelation. It showed that the young wicketkeeper was coming of age as a Test batsman. He provided a perfect foil to Pujara during the early part of his inning and changed gears once Jadeja had settled down. Together, they literally had the Australian bowlers at their mercy for just more than 38 overs. Jadeja was finally bowled by Lyon on 81 runs and the declaration came.
The wicket has eased out a lot more than yesterday and batting was relatively more comfortable. Nevertheless, the batsmen have to watch out for the odd one that stops a bit more than the others before coming on to the bat. One such ball bowled at half the pitch and at 145 kph, just lobbed over the diminutive Rishab Pant and bounced before the keeper. The Australian opening batsmen saw through the ten overs that they faced without losing their wickets. Khawaja was let off by Pant off a Shami delivery when the batsman had yet to open his account. Marcus Harris on 19 runs and Usman Khawaja on 5 will return tomorrow to further Australia’s score from 24 for no loss.
A long day awaits the Australian batsmen. If they are to fend off the Indian attack, they will have to take a leaf out of Pujara’s inning and I dare say, Pant’s. There is not much in the pitch for the fast bowlers but Jasprit Bumrah has amply exhibited his ability to surprise batsmen even on placid wickets. Mohammed Shami too is a wily old customer and can swing the ball both ways for whatever swing this wicket will allow him. We have seen during the Indian inning that the wicket helps the spinners substantially. Rajendra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have bowled two overs each today and will more likely than not do a bulk of the bowling tomorrow. Both the bowlers are pretty accurate and the Australian batsmen will have to curb their attacking instinct if they are to last in the middle.
Chasing 622 runs the Australian batsmen have an arduous task to accomplish under pressure. Tomorrow, the third day of the Test will tell us which way this match will go. The Indians will be perked up knowing that the chances of Australia depriving them of a Series victory on Australian shores are minimal. They will look at this series as a great opportunity to neutralise their poor performances on the away tours in the past one year to date and assert their position as the number one Test team in the world.
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