Australia vs India: Dean Jones and Michael Clarke impressed by Kohli and Rahane’s batting

Indian fans were apprehending something sinister at the Perth Stadium on Saturday when their team came out to bat in response to 326 scored by Australia in the first innings. The visitors were 2 down for 8 in the sixth over with both their openers – KL Rahul and Murali Vijay – getting dismissed for 2 and zero, respectively. But the Indian middle order, led by skipper Virat Kohli, stood up to ensure that it was not a cakewalk for the home side and the tourists were in a strong position at stumps with their scoreline reading 172 for 3.

Kohli (82 not out) added 74 runs for the third wicket with Adelaide centurion Cheteshwar Pujara (24) and after the latter’s dismissal, put up an unbeaten partnership of 90 runs with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (51 not out) who scored his second half-century of the series and the 17th overall in the longer format.

India are now trailing by 154 runs and the third day promises to be one of the most crucial days of this four-match series which Virat Kohli’s men are leading 1-0. The batting display by Kohli and Rahane won applause from the Australians as well as former players like Michael Clarke and Dean Jones expressing their conviction over the duo’s application with the willow.

Kohli ‘unbelievable’, Rahane ‘exceptional’

Former Aussie captain Michael Clarke took to Twitter to praise India’s fightback after losing two early wickets. He called Kohli “unbelievable” and Rahane “exceptional”.

Former cricketer Dean Jones, who had said ahead of the series that India have their best chance of winning a Test series in Australia this time and if they fail to do it this time as well, they would never win one, agreed with Clarke.

He said while the wicket in the new stadium, which is hosting its first-ever Test match behaved better than on Day 1, the Indian captain and vice-captain played even better. He said the Indian batsmen played as per the old discipline of the game and hence, tasted success.

Ali Khan interview:

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.