Umesh Yadav breaks Glenn Maxwell’s bat on the very first ball of the day

After Australia ended Day 1 of the third Test at Ranchi on a high with 299 runs on the board for the loss of 4 wickets it was up for the Indian team to make a comeback in the Test. The Aussies were certainly running away with the game as skipper Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell batted with absolute authority in the last session. Unbeaten on 82 at the end of the day Maxwell was certainly high on confidence but it was all shaken up on the first ball of the second day.

Indian pacer Umesh Yadav who has a lot of muscle behind his balls was starting the proceedings for the No.1 Test team. The very first ball paced at 137 kph Maxwell defended the ball solidly but the ball hit the upper part of his bat and it cracked off. It was a length delivery and though he didn’t offer an aggressive shot the bat couldn’t take the load.

Umesh was mighty pleased with his own effort that shattered the bat and was all smiles also pointing towards his biceps suggesting the source of the force behind the ball that proved a bit too much to handle for the willow.

It appeared as if even his bat isn’t used to taking so much since he batted for such a long duration for the first time in his international career. We usually associate Maxwell with flamboyant shots, reverse sweeps the unconventional shots and slogs but showed immense character in his knock that was expected to replenish his Test career that hasn’t got going yet.

He wasn’t quite affected by his bat that helped him right through on day 1 parting away from him and went on to score a hundred, his maiden in Test cricket. He would have wanted to carry on from there but couldn’t and was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja for 104.

Maxwell was waiting on the back foot against the left-arm spinner, the ball got some purchase off the wicket and there was a piece mud coming off the surface, it managed to kiss the outside edge of his bat and was gloved by Saha to end his best Test inning.

Watch the video here:

https://twitter.com/nikhiltait/status/842588950963392513