Twitter Reactions: Ajinkya Rahane's majestic ton and Ravindra Jadeja's resolve keep India ahead against Australia

After bundling Australia out for 195 in the first innings of the ongoing Boxing Day Test at the MCG, India needed to bat well. All eyes were on their batting on the second day after they made 36/1 at stumps. And the batsmen have stepped up to the occasion with the captain Ajinkya Rahane leading from the front. He slammed a scintillating century and remained unbeaten on 104 at the end of Day two as India took a lead of 82 runs with five wickets in hand.

The day started with overnight batsmen Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara aiming to build a partnership. But the first hour was extremely testing for the duo with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood bowling superbly. It was all happening in the first 15 minutes of play as Australia took an unsuccessful review off the first ball, Tim Paine dropped Gill and then another one went past him with the same batsman living a charmed life in the middle.

However, Gill rode his luck and showed that he belongs to this level. Some of his strokes in between were majestic but just when he looked set to get to his maiden Test fifty, the youngster couldn’t resist playing a drive off a wide one from Cummins only to edge it. Nevertheless, Gill scored 45 runs in his debut innings impressing many. Cheteshwar Pujara, at the other end, blunted the new ball before being undone by a beauty from Cummins on 17.

Ajinkya Rahane controls the proceedings

At 64/3, with around 40 minutes to go for lunch, the match was interestingly poised. Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane just concentrated on blocking it out till the end of the opening session. There were a few nervous moments for them as well but the duo did well to survive the tricky phase. The post-lunch session brought some quick runs with conditions easing out a bit.

After spending some time in the middle, both the batsmen had started looking comfortable only until Vihari attempted a sweep shot off Nathan Lyon. The ball bounced more on that occasion to kiss his glove and rest into the hands of Steve Smith. The 52-run stand was broken at the right time for Australia and Rahane’s wicket at this stage would’ve tilted the game in their favour.

However, that wasn’t the case. Rishabh Pant joined the hands with his captain and started to churn runs at pace. The southpaw’s arrival infused confidence in Rahane as well who opened up a bit and played a few shots. Pant’s aggression helped India wipe out the deficit relatively quickly. The left-hander though lived by a sword and died by it edging a wide delivery from Mitchell Starc after scoring 29 off 40 balls.

Ravindra Jadeja and Rahane take India to a dominant position

With the visitors still 22 runs behind, Australia sensed a chance to get into India’s tail. However, a confident Rahane and a rejuvenated Ravindra Jadeja with the bat denied them any success in the final session. The duo grew in confidence as they played together and punished any poor deliveries. Australia’s pacers tested them with some good deliveries every now and then but they were determined.

Rahane, in particular, unfurled his back-foot punches and sensational cover drives once the new ball arrived. India benefitted from having two set batsmen after 80 overs as runs came at quick pace in the last hour of the day. A back-foot cut shot took India’s skipper to his 12th century in Tests, one that he personally and the team also desperately needed.

Jadeja, at the other end, looked in complete control as he supported Rahane well to frustrate the hosts. Australia had themselves to blame as they dropped the latter twice. Smith and Head were the culprits with the latest drop coming off what turned out to be the last ball of the day.

India ended Day two at 277/5, 82 runs ahead in the first innings, with Rahane batting on 104 while Jadeja remained unbeaten on 40. These two will look to stretch the lead to around 150 on the third day now and Australia will be keen on wrapping up the innings as soon as possible. With the pitch still doing a lot of tricks, for now, it can be said that the visitors are well and truly ahead in this Test.

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