What Is Follow-On In Test Cricket: Can India Avoid Embarrassment In Gabba Test?

India are on the verge of a follow-on [Source: AP]

After securing an emphatic win in the first Test at Perth Stadium, team India has been a pale shadow of itself in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian team suffered a crushing defeat in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide before putting up another shambolic performance in the Gabba Test. 

Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first in order to capitalise on the overcast conditions on day one of the Brisbane Test. However, despite losing three early wickets, Australia were remarkable with the bat, as Steve Smith and Travis Head's scintillating tons powered them to a huge first-innings total. 

On the contrary, India's woes against the moving ball persisted, with the hosts pushing them down on the mat by striking at regular intervals. Apart from KL Rahul, none of the Indian batters put up an impressive performance at The Gabba, letting their team down with a poor batting display. As a result, India are on the verge of an embarrassing follow-on in the Brisbane Test. 

What Is Follow-On In Test Cricket And How Can India Avoid It At The Gabba?

Ideally, the team batting first should bat again in the third innings after the conclusion of the second innings. However, if the team batting second concedes a lead of 200 runs or more, the team batting first has the right to ask their opponents to bat again. This process is called follow-on and has significant importance in Test cricket. 

For instance, Australia posted 445 runs in their first innings of the ongoing Gabba Test. Thus, India must score 246 runs to avoid the follow-on. At the time of writing, the visitors were reeling at 161 for six, needing 85 runs to avoid the follow-on, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja batting in the middle. 

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