17 December,2024 06:03 AM IST | Brisbane | R Kaushik
A dejected Virat Kohli walks back after being dismissed for three against Australia in Brisbane yesterday. Pic/AFP
There is nothing more frustrating for a batting unit than having to endure a stop-start day. Nothing, that is, apart from a series of poor strokes when confronted with a big total amassed by the opposition.
Despite Jasprit Bumrah's incandescence which fetched him a wonderful six-for, Australia piled up 445 when their innings ended on Day Three of the third Test at the Gabba. It was an excellent total on being put in, a total with which Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins could work wonders because they knew rain was always round the corner, that between short, sharp bursts, they would get unexpected downtime to get their breath back.
There were more than half-a-dozen interruptions on a day when only 33.1 overs were bowled, but that didn't prevent the hosts from surging well into the ascendancy. They struck with the new ball repeatedly between stoppages. Even 10-minute passages of play were enough to eke out wickets and by the time stumps were eventually called to end the misery of a wet day, India had slumped to 51-4 with the unflappable KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma tasked with taking the innings forward.
Rahul was by a distance India's best batter, defending with authority, letting balls go when he didn't need to spar at them and playing a few beautiful drives through the covers, but the rest were a letdown. Yashasvi Jaiswal perished in the first over, tamely flicking Mitchell Starc to Mitchell Marsh at forward of square-leg, while Shubman Gill went in the left-arm quick's next over, reaching out to drive a ball he could have left well alone and being expertly caught high to his left at gully by Marsh.
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At 6-2, the stage was set for Virat Kohli to make an impression. Two cheap dismissals in Adelaide should have left him hungry for a match-defining knock, but Kohli seemed like a man in a hurry. He was beaten first ball, attempting an expansive drive, and before long, he was making the long, lonely walk back to the pavilion, having flirted with Hazlewood outside off and feathering a catch to Alex Carey behind the stumps, the fourth time in this series he has been caught behind the stumps.
Also Read: Rain plays spoilsport as India end day 3 at 51/4 in reply to Australia's 445
Rahul somehow put the procession at the other end and the constant stoppages behind him to knuckle down, reiterating that the move to retain him as opener despite Rohit's return was well justified. He and Rishabh Pant briefly steadied the ship, adding 22, but it was always on the cards that the constant to-and-from the dugout would impact concentration. Within five deliveries of resumption of play for the penultimate time in the day, Pant sparred at Cummins and also perished caught behind, leaving Rahul and Rohit, in need of a score, to see off a few anxious moments when play resumed after the longest stoppage of the day late in the evening.
In the morning, Australia batted without intent when they resumed on 405-7, batting 16.1 overs in adding 40 runs. India started with Ravindra Jadeja in a bid to catch up on the over-rate but it was the three quicks who tasted success, Akash Deep finally finding reward for persistence with the wicket of Carey for 70.
Brief scores
Australia 445 all out (T Head 152, S Smith 101, A Carey 70; J Bumrah 6-76, M Siraj 2-97) v India 51-4 (KL Rahul 33'; M Starc 2-25)
