Ashwin picks four as Australia lag behind

Brief Scores: India 244 (Virat Kohli 74, C Pujara 43, A Rahane 42; M Starc 4-53, Pat Cummins 3-48)and 9/1 (Pat Cummins 1-6)lead Australia 191 all out (Tim Paine 73*, Marnus Labuschagne 47; R Ashwin 4-55, Umesh Yadav 3-40) trail by 62 runs

India's bowling personnel hunted in a pack to badger Australia into 191 all out in reply to their first-innings score of 244, on the second day of the first Test which has motioned at the rate of knots. Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web to reap figures of 41/4 while Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah shared a couple of scalps each, even as Tim Paine's audacious 73* and their own shambolic catching stoked their ire to no end. Forced to nullify Australia's second bite at the cherry towards the fag end, India lost Prithvi Shaw cheaply in what proved to be a similar dismissal from his previous innings. Mayank Agarwal and nightwatchman Bumrah dug in to park India to close without any further blemishes, with a healthy lead of 62 in tow. 

Resuming at an overnight score of 233, India had their hopes pinned on Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha, the last recognized pair, to meet the hoped-for first-innings score of 300. However, the lower-order raised the white flag to Australia's pace menace with the addition of a meager 11 runs.

India's new-ball merchants then cracked the whip on Australia in a tightly-wound first session where run-flow receded down to a trickle. In fact, the opening four overs spared none as Yadav and Bumrah hit the straps right from the word go. Openers Matthew Wade and Joe Burns grappled with the lateral movement, playing and missing often against the effective fourth-stump channel. Burn's fidgeting at the crease screamed a dearth of runs under his belt while Wade copped a few nasty blows on his bicep and forearm owing to his awkward positioning in riposte to well-directed bouncers. Mohammed Shami joined the party after an eight-ever spell by his colleagues and smelt blood from the outset. But for all the theatrics and spiteful chin music, Australia saw through the initial burst unscathed. In case you still have any qualms on how India fared sans the expertise of Ishant Sharma, here's a little stat alert to kill the debate. For the first time in the century, Australia consumed 28 balls to get off the mark. 

However, such was the fizz in India's operations that the breakthrough was just a matter of time. Bumrah adjusted his lines to a straighter one and the ploy to target the pads bore fruit within a jiffy. The course correction resulted in both openers being trapped leg-before, with reviews holding the umpire's call valid in each instance. Australian wunderkind Marnus Labuschagne looked a fish out of water initially and a golden opportunity to cease his jitter tumbled out of India's basket, only for Bumrah to err inside the rope. The proximity to the fence duped him into believing that the catch was too close to the boundary cushions for comfort and thus, he tried parrying it in. In reality, he was a good foot and a half away from the border and his miscalculation robbed India of a chance to inflict a triple whammy. Labuschagne was reprieved again after the dinner interval with Prithvi Shaw shelling an absolute sitter off his miscued pull. Whether you ascribe it to the lack of rigorous practice during the pandemic-induced break or simply the poor grip of the ball, India's fielding is losing its sheen by the day and serious retrospection is the need of the hour. 

Butter-fingered India kicked the gift horse in the mouth but Ashwin reimbursed transactions with the prized scalp of Steve Smith. With the batting behemoth expecting a regulation offie, given the jampacked leg-side field, Ashwin slid in a drifter and an outside edge travelled to the safe sanctum of Ajinkya Rahane's hands at slip. He also tricked Travis Head into a return catch as India banged open the floodgates leading into a middle-order with a fair share of vulnerabilities. And it was made plain in the way debutant Cameron Green threw his wicket away, jabbing Ashwin tamely to find a leaping Virat Kohli at short mid-wicket. While Kohli's run-out yesterday had sparked a furore with experts reckoning that India left two hundred or more runs on the plate and how it could be a potential game-changer, Australia were now on their knees at 79/5 and the pink-ball pageant was well and truly alive. 

Despite being in pole position, India veered from the task post the tea break and the hosts capitalized on the elusive breather. Labuschagne did settle into his groove eventually and joined forces with Paine to help Australia pick the pieces en route a tiny yet resourceful 32-run partnership. Though Labuschagne cracked the odd drive or punch, he predominantly seemed an anxious version of his former self with the wagon wheel crammed with runs down third man. Nevertheless, Australia were finding their feet back in the twilight period when Umesh Yadav reaped the reward for his discipline since morning with Labuschagne's number, caught plumb in front, three shy of a fifty. India could have wrested irrevocable control of the proceedings but Mayank Agarwal spilled Paine's uncurbed hook to gift Australia yet another lease of life. But as the old cricketing adage goes, one ultimately brought two as Pat Cummins was bounced out to lend Yadav his second, an invaluable strike in the context of the clash given India's deep-seated troubles with wrapping up the tail. 

Tottering at 111/6, Australia desperately wanted their skipper to rise to the occasion and he did so with an air of exuberance. He threw the kitchen sink at anything even a smidgen wide while rotating the strike in clinical fashion to ensure his side doesn't slump into its shell. Paine kept running out of partners as Shaw sought redemption for his faux pas earlier in the day by finding Mitchell Starc short of the crease when he was coming back for the second run. Nathan Lyon played second fiddle to Paine for a brief while until a leading-edge off Ashwin spelled doom. Similarly, Josh Hazlewood dealt a couple of crisp boundaries before reverting to the typical tail-ender's mode and guiding the ball to the first slip. 

Bumrah is occupying the crease and he might be yielded the license to flash his blade tomorrow. Batsmen who chose to remain proactive in their approach have tasted success hitherto. With a sizeable lead in their bank, India have the edge but only a fool would make the mistake of counting Australia out just yet. Cancel your appointments and run the errands on priority, for day three promises to keep the cricketing fandom to the edge of their seats. 

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