Indian captain Virat Kohli did not take the field on Day Two, but that did not dent the hosts’ hope. They made a spectacular comeback in the third Test against Australia at Ranchi. Replying to Australia’s 451, India were 120 for 1 at stumps on Day Two. The second day’s play presented fans ample joyous moments, and Suvajit Mustafi presents a few of them. Full cricket scorecard: India vs Australia, 3rd Test at Ranchi
Breaking Bat: No Walter White. No Jesse Pinkman. No meth either. This mini-show’s protagonists were Glenn Maxwell, Umesh Yadav and the Kookaburra bat. Without a doubt, Umesh is the strongest Indian cricketer. He bowled the first over of the day’s play, and the first ball was a warm-up one that was dished out at 137 kph. Maxwell looked to play a gentle defence and the bat broke from the middle.
Umesh was quick to flaunt his muscles. Here’s the moment:
It is a different story that a few overs later, Maxwell would go on to cut Umesh to third-man boundary to bring up his maiden hundred.
The BIG show, indeed: The celebrations told you all. Maxwell eventually reached the three-figure mark for the first time in his Test career. India’s stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane tried hard to prevent it by attacking him. Nevertheless, when Maxwell reached the mark he had his arms spread wide, and there was tight hug from skipper Steven Smith. Full Updates of India-Australia, 3rd Test
From being dropped from his state side Victoria earlier this season to slamming a hundred in alien conditions such as India, Maxwell had an emotional high. His partnership of 191 for the fifth wicket with Smith turned the game in Australia’s favour.
Later, he was the first wicket to fall in the day. He was caught behind off Ravindra Jadeja but not before he became only the second Australian to slam a century across formats after Shane Watson.
The ‘no nonsense’ Saha: Fitness levels have gone up in modern cricket and many a time we see cricketers unfairly claiming catches. There are numerous replays, eventually showing a batsman is ruled ‘out’ or ‘not out’. Ishant Sharma induced Smith’s edge. Just when the ball seemed to be dying down to Wriddhiman Saha, the keeper sprang ahead and seemed to nab it clean.
Ishant immediately appealed, as Smith looked at the umpire sheepishly. But Saha was quick to let everyone know that the ball had just bounced on the turf before making its way to his gloves. Exemplary conduct, indeed.
Rahane’s tactics: Team India sans Virat Kohli truly resembled a headless snake with no sting. Rahane was seemingly defensive but had his own style. Though he went on to plot Matthew Wade’s fall later in the first session, he missed a trick by employing Ravichandran Ashwin early in the day.
With an out-of-form left-hander at the crease, Rahane missed out a trick by employing his premier off-spinner. In fact, he did not bring Ashwin in to the attack for a good 90 minutes into the second day’s play.
Comedy of errors: India’s fielding was a big let down on Day Two. At one instance, Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh tried to stop a boundary off Smith’s blade. They dived but into each other and the ball raced away to the boundary.
Ishant has now played 77 Tests (yes, a Test more than Brett Lee). He still continues to make gaffes that even school cricketers would think twice. Ashwin was slow to respond on the field and as a result Smith and Maxwell went for the second run. Maxwell was well short at the non-striker’s end, and Ashwin had fired in a good throw but guess what? There was no Ishant backing up behind the stumps.
Later, India lost another run-out opportunity courtesy a horrendous throw from the lanky Delhi bowler.
No. 1, truly: His batting may not have the same grace that his peers like Kohli, Joe Root and Kane Williamson possess, but Steven Smith is the No. 1 batsman in the ICC Test Rankings for a reason. Smith continued deflating India’s psyche throughout the day. He was not in any hurry. He remained unbeaten on 178 as Australia folded for 451.
He could have carried on for another couple of days had Australia played with 20 batsmen. Smith, in the process, became the only Australian skipper to notch up a 150 in India. This also became the sixth instance of a visiting captain scoring over 150 in India. Alastair Cook has done it twice while Clive Lloyd has done it three times.
The partners in crime: Apart from Peter Handscomb and Maxwell, Smith was also involved in two important stands down the order. He added 64 for the sixth wicket with Wade (37) and 51 for the eighth wicket with Steve O’Keefe (25).
The Umesh scare: Amidst the barrage of shoulder injuries, India had heart in their mouth when Umesh landed on the pitch awkwardly after his boot got stuck on the turf during a delivery stride. Luckily, he escaped unscathed.
Jaddu’s day out in MSD land: By the time this Test ends, Jadeja may be at the pinnacle of the ICC Test Ranking for bowlers. He claimed his eighth five-for and brought India back in the contest. He got the ball to turn off the rough around the wicket.
He got Pat Cummins with a left-armer’s dream ball that pitched on middle and leg on its way to the stumps.
A special effort from Karun Nair at silly point saw Nathan Lyon walking back.
That was not all of it. Jadeja pulled off a brilliant back-of-the hand flick to the stumps to complete a Dhoni-sque run out to bring an end to the Australian innings. Or as my chief editor put it, “It was Dhoni who use to pull off Sir Jadeja-style run outs.”
Rahul vs Cummins: Cummins was a teenager when he played his first Test. He is 23 now when he played his next. Between those 7 wickets and the wicket of KL Rahul, there were 1947 days and 64 Tests. Cummins was getting the odd ball to kick off the surface and often caught Rahul by surprise. There were war of words and Rahul backed those glares with exquisite strokeplay as well.
While Rahul went on to dominate most of the deliveries bowled by Cummins, he was eventually deceived by a slower bouncer that took the bat’s edge before lobbing to Wade’s gloves.
By then, Rahul had crafted fine 67, an innings that comprised 9 boundaries. This isn’t it. Before this series started, Rahul had 4 hundreds and 1 fifty. Now he has as many hundreds and 5 fifties.
Vijay’s vigil: While Rahul was at his free-flowing best, Vijay in his 50th Test was happy to play the second fiddle. It was only after Rahul got out, Vijay ensured that the scoreboard moved. He displayed an array of quality shots off Lyon during the wee stages of Day Two. He remains unbeaten on 42 with India 120 for 1 at stumps of second day.
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