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India vs Australia 2nd Test at Brisbane, Day 2: India’s familiar collapse, Umesh Yadav’s heroics and other highlights

India lead by 187 runs at the end of Day Two of the second Test in Brisbane.

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Australia © AFP
Australia bowled India out in the first session for 408 © Getty Images

India are ahead by 187 runs as Australia reached 221 for four at stumps on Day Two of the second Test at The Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday. The day started with a familiar Indian batting collapse, followed by some gumption showed by the bowlers and resistance by Australian batsmen. Devarchit Varma picks the highlights of the day.

India’s familiar batting collapse: When India ended the opening day at 311 for four, many started recalling how India let go of a positive start to the Melbourne Test back in 2003-04. However, history repeated itself as India once again suffered a batting collapse. Starting the day with six wickets intact and the two batsmen having got their eye in, India collapsed from 311 for four to 408 all-out. Had it not been a strong 57-run stand between skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin for the seventh wicket, India would have folded for less than 400. Among the batsmen that were dismissed, only Rohit Sharma’s wicket would have hurt India the most. The right-handed star batsman chased one very wide outside the off-stump and ended up being dismissed at a crucial moment.

MS Dhoni’s hearty assurance: India came out aggressively with the ball, with both the strike bowlers, Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron targeting the stumps. They did bowl a couple of loose ones that were punished by David Warner, but they stuck to the plan. But what was heartening to see was the Indian skipper coming close to the wickets during an Ishant over, and telling the bowler in Hindi, ‘Tu bindaas daal, mai dekh loonga’ (You bowl the way you want to, I will take care of the rest). Dhoni is known for backing his players tremendously, and this was yet another example of the skipper letting his bowler follow his plan and backing him up completely.

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Chris Rogers scored a crucial fifty © Getty Images

Chris Rogers’ resistance: Struggling to score runs off late, this outing comes as a relief to the 37-year-old. As usual, he started off on a shaky note but recovered well to complete his sixth half-century in the format. Chris Rogers looked pretty comfortable in the middle after sometime and played really well for his 55, getting 40 of those runs in boundaries. With Ed Cowan threatening his place as opener with superb show in the Sheffield Shield, Rogers has given himself the best chance to keep his place intact.

Shaun Marsh’s unique feat: The injury-prone Shaun Marsh had a forgettable outing on the first day; when he dropped Murali Vijay twice, and the Indian opener went on to score a splendid 144. However, it’s not about the catches that he spilled. When India toured Australia back in 2011-12, Marsh had a torrid time with the bat scoring just 17 runs in four Tests, at an average of 2.83. But on Thursday, the left-handed batsman put behind the disappointment and went on to score a well-composed 32 off 70 balls with the help of five boundaries.

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Ajinkya Rahane drops a skier. Luckily for him, the batsman, Shaun Marsh, was dismissed soon after © Getty Images

Ajinkya Rahane drops a sitter but R Ashwin saves him: MS Dhoni and Varun Aaron chalked out a plan to break a stubborn stand between Shaun Marsh and Steven Smith. And it nearly clicked when Marsh mistimed one stroke and ended up lopping the ball high in the air. Ajinkya Rahane, who was placed at leg-gully, denied Dhoni to come forward and take the simple catch, and ended up spilling it. It was surprising to see Rahane dropping a catch as simple as that one, and he was certainly embarrassed after the miss. However, Ravichandran Ashwin gave India and his team a reason to smile as he took a sharp catch at the first slip off Umesh Yadav to get rid of the left-hander.

Steven Smith batting like a dream: The Australian captain started off his innings with a skilfully executed boundary, on a delivery that was quite high but Smith did well to keep it down. After that, the right-handed batsman did not give India a single chance to put pressure on him, and batted as fluently as he has done of late. In the 40th over, Smith danced down twice down the ground to hit two similar sixes off Ashwin. There was an elegant cover drive as well, which would have delighted everyone who admire the stroke more than the others. The skipper remained unbeaten on 65, and he will be Australia’s biggest hope on Day Three to bring down the 187-run lead India have at the moment.

Umesh Yadav tumbles but keeps Australia on toes: The right-arm India pacer had a fantastic outing with the A side this year and he was on fire on Wednesday. Umesh bowled with lot of pace and discipline, and much to the delight of the Indian fans, he bowled the quickest delivery of the match at 147.8 kmph — faster than what Mitchell Johnson has bowled in the match so far. Umesh, who picked up three wickets — openers David Warner and Chris Rogers and Shaun Marsh — also tumbled twice in his follow-through. On the first instance, Umesh twisted his ankle and fell on the ground, and stood up only to see his teammates celebrating the fall of Warner.

(Devarchit Varma is a reporter with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)

 

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