IND v AUS, 2nd Test, Day 3 Review: Pujara and Rahane take India's lead to 126 with 6 wickets in hand

After Australia gained the upper hand in the first two days of the 2nd Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, India has bounced back pretty strongly in the morning session of the 3rd day and have evened the contest. Beginning at the overnight score of 237/6, the duo of Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc looked in complete control and was hardly troubled by any of the Indian bowlers in the first 45 minutes.

Ravichandran Ashwin provided India with the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Mitchell Starc after the duo shared 49 runs stand for the 8th wicket. The ball was tossed up and Jadeja completed a sensational catch in the deep. Now it was the turn of Jadeja to send back Wade to the pavilion. He came from around the wicket and struck him adjacent to the stumps. It was an easy and straightforward call from the umpire.

He dismissed Nathan Lyon immediately in the next ball as he attempted a sweep and was struck right in front. Though Lyon went for the review replays suggested the ball would have crashed onto middle and leg. Jadeja eventually finished off the Australian innings with the score at 276, dismissing Josh Hazlewood with a well tossed up delivery.  It was a good effort from the hosts to keep their led under 100 going into the 2nd innings.

Coming out to bat in the 2nd essay KL Rahul and Abhinav Mukund looked in complete authority. Apart from getting beaten once or twice both looked solid in the middle and was hardly troubled by any of the Aussie bowlers. After bagging a duck in his Test return, Mukund looked fluent in his short stay and remained unbeaten on 16 while Rahul is batting on 20. Rahul struck a couple of delightful boundaries Which included a brilliant straight drive off Josh Hazlewood.

After a good start top their 2nd innings, India lost their plot in the 2nd session of the 3rd day and was reeling at 122/4, with an overall lead of only 35 runs. Abhinav Mukund who looked pretty organised during his short stay was castled by Josh Hazlewood with a reverse swinging delivery. It took the inside edge of his bat and hit the timbers.

Cheteshwar Pujara joined Rahul in the middle with the duo looking to wipe off the lead as quickly as possible. Pujara got two lucky reprieves as he was dropped by Matthew Wade and Steve Smith in quick succession. He made most of his opportunities and defied the Aussie bowlers with his resilient approach in the middle.

After scoring a brilliant half century Rahul was brilliantly caught by Steve Smith at slip. It was one of the best catches you will see ever in cricket. He just flew towards his right and grabbed the ball from thin air. Virat Kohli looked in good touch during his brief stay but got a tough call.

Hazlewood bowled a good delivery which nipped back and struck his pads. The onfield decision was given in favour of the Australian team so the 3rd umpire didn’t have conclusive evidence to overturn the decision. Ravindra Jadeja came in at the fall of Kohli’s wicket and the move didn’t quite work as he was castled by Hazlewood in quick time.

The hosts made a terrific comeback in the final session of the day as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane remained unbeaten at stumps. The partnership between them was quite exceptional considering the pitch is not easy to bat on. It was a very important innings from Rahane both for the team and on a personal front.

Both Rahane and Pujara rotated the strike along and never allowed the Aussies to dictate terms. The pitch used out a bit but still had enough bite to trouble the batsmen. After an initial stutter, Pujara looked totally unruffled and played a brilliant innings. While Pujara struck 6 boundaries, Rahane’s unbeaten 40 was constructed with 3 fours.

The unbeaten 93 runs partnership is the best by either team from the series and also for the first time a whole session passed without the fall of a single wicket. After the end of the day’s play, Mrs Rahane who was there at the crowd looked quite relieved.

It will be a very important day tomorrow which will decide the fate of the match and the series. While India will look to take their overall lead beyond 250, Australia will look to bowl them for a lead less than 200

Brief Scores

India 1st innings 189 all-out (KL Rahul 90, Nathan Lyon 8/50)

Australia 1st innings 276 all-out (Shaun Marsh 66, Matt Renshaw 60, Ravindra Jadeja 6/63)

India 2nd innings 213/4 (KL Rahul 51, Cheteshwar Pujara 79*, Josh Hazlewood 3/57)

India lead by 126 runs