IND vs AUS: Rishabh Pant is dismissed by the Australian skipper just midway through the second session of Day 1. After not a very convincing start, just when India seemed to creep back slowly into the game with Pant and Reddy building onto a partnership for the 7th wicket, Cummins does the business for Australia.
India is playing with a fairly inexperienced squad, with the skipper Rohit Sharma missing the first test and batter Shubman Gill being ruled out due to injury. BCCI updates suggest the player is being looked at closely by the medical team.
Indian stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah elected to bat on Day 1 after winning the toss. However, nothing seemed to have gone in India’s favour since then. Mitchell Starc, the most striking bowler from Australia, picked up the early wicket of Jaiswal in just the third over of the game.
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Starc and Hazelwood share 4-wickets before lunch
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood, the two of Australia’s finest pace bowling options, clicked in the first session, as Starc and Hazelwood both bowled stunningly as they broke the back of the Indian top-order.
Starc got rid of opener Jaiswal and later had a final breakthrough just before lunch when he dismissed Rahul for a well-fought 26 runs.
Hazelwood, on the other hand, bowled out Padikkal, the debutant for a 23-ball duck, while his next in the bag was veteran Indian batter Virat Kohli, who seemed baffled by the sudden bounce Hazelwood got off the Perth surface.
Loud criticism around KL Rahul’s dismissal
KL Rahul’s dismissal in the first inning seemed to have created a spark in the form of loud criticism from fans as well as cricket exports. It also created a huge stir over the reliability of the DRS (Decision Review System), as the wicket came around the time when Rahul was rebuilding the Indian innings.
When Starc hit the hard length, the ball flew past the outside edge of KL Rahul’s bat, and everyone seemed to have heard a knick. Unsure whether the bat hit the pads or the ball took an edge off, the on-field umpire adjudged not out. It was the Third Umpire who finally declared him out, despite the proof being inconclusive.
Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy posed a 50-run partnership for the 7th wicket
Everyone seemed surprised when Akash Deep was left out and Nitishk Kumar Reddy was picked for the Perth test; supposedly the strategy was only to expose some batting depth, sighting the current form of Indian batters.
After the openers fell early and the top order was tarnished, the middle order of Sundar and Jurel was also hunted upon by Mitchell Marsh’s double strike in successive overs.
Pant and NK Reddy batted stunningly to restore confidence in the Indian batting lineup, as the two scored some runs off the spinner early and later hit some amazing runs off skipper Cummins.
Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood shut down Indian innings before Tea
Australian skipper Pat Cummins got the big breakthrough of Rishabh Pant, as a leading edge was caught sharply off by Steven Smith at the third slip. This started the fall of the Indian inning.
Harshit Rana was next caught off by a joint stellar reaction catch from Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne at slips, who spellbound the batter with a rebound catch. Bumrah and Reddy entertained the Indian crowd with some unique hits that went for sixes but could not survive the onslaught from Cummins and Hazelwood.
Aussie pacers pick 10 wickets at Perth; can Bumrah and co. bounce back?
Mitchell Starc with the new ball, to be precise, and Hazelwood was the pick of the bowlers with 2 double strikes, first with the new ball and later with the dismissal of the tailenders.
Cummins got hit for some runs but was later the main man in breaking apart the partnerships between Pant and Reddy, as he eventually dismissed either of the batters. Marsh also ended his tally with 2-wickets bowling just 5-overs in the game.
