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Shubman Gill's sparkling century and an unbeaten 59 by Virat Kohli kept India strongin their first innings reply against a persistent Australian spin attack in the fourth Test on Saturday.
India skipper Rohit Sharma expressed his displeasure over the talks around the pitches for the ongoing India vs Australia Test series. The pitch in Nagpur, that hosted the first match, became a talk of the town even before the start of the series. The second and third Tests took place in Delhi and Indore, respectively, and the surfaces of both the venues also came under the radar of critics for the amount of turn they offered to the spinners. It is worth noting that all the three matches ended in less than three days.
India skipper Rohit Sharma has advised the team's batters to learn from Shreyas Iyer and Cheteshwar Pujara on how to bat on a rank turner like Indore pitch. India failed in batting as the side scored only 272 runs across its two innings in the third Test in Indore that it lost by 9 wickets. While the Rohit-led side scored 109 runs in its first innings, it was bundled out for 163 in the second innings, which failed to stop Australia from winning the game. Rohit said there was a lot to learn from Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer who batted in contrasting styles to take the team past 150 in the second innings. Pujara mixed caution with aggression while Iyer unsettled the Australian spinners by going for an all-out attack.
At the end of second day's of play in the ongoing third Test against Australia in Indore, India batter Cheteshwar Pujara said that the surface was difficult to bat on and one needs to trust their defence, get to the pitch of the ball and judge the length early. Nathan Lyon's eight-wicket haul helped Australia skittle out India for 163 runs in the second inning, leaving the visitors just 76 runs away from a win in the third Test at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Cheteshwar Pujara looked in tremendous form and it took a special effort from Steve Smith at leg slip to end his gritty innings on Day 2 of the third Test encounter between India and Australia in Indore on Thursday. Pujara looked confident on 59 and it looked like the veteran batter will be able to give India a good lead against Australia. However, Lyon pitched the delivery outside the leg stump and in an attempt to guide it towards fine leg, Pujara ended up edging it straight towards Smith. The Australia skipper had a slow start but was ultimately able to pull off a perfect catch by diving almost full length. This was the 13th time when Lyon dismissed Pujara in Test cricket – the most among the Indian top-order batters.
The Indore pitch turned out to be extremely helpful for spinners as the Australian spinners bundled out India for just 109 on Day 1 of the third Test encounter on Wednesday. Both India openers – Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill – were bamboozled by the extra spin that the Australian bowlers enjoyed but the dismissal of Cheteshwar Pujara left everyone visibly stunned. In the ninth over of the match, Nathan Lyon pitched the ball short outside off stump and Pujara was quickly on his back foot to cut it through the point region. However, the ball turned massively and crashed into the stumps as Pujara was left completely stranded by his stance. The shock was visible on Pujara's face as he made his way back to the pavilion and even skipper Rohit was visibly stunned.
Team India has taken a 2-0 lead in the ongoing four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Axar Patel have not just delivered with the ball, but they have also scored big so far in the series. The Rohit Sharma-led side showed faith in KL Rahul over Shubman Gill but the opening batter disappointed the fans and the management as he could only score 38 runs in two matches. As the third Test starts on Wednesday, the management has to make the tough decision of choosing between out-of-form K L Rahul and Shubman Gill.
Rohit Sharma won a lot of hearts by sacrificing his own wicket after a terrible mix-up with Cheteshwar Pujara during the second Test match between India and Australia in New Delhi. Pujara, who was playing his 100th Test match, was confused by the India skipper calling for a second run but when it looked like one of the batsmen are going to be run out for sure, Rohit made it sure that he was the one running towards the danger end of the field and he was dismissed thanks to a simple throw from Peter Handscomb. Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh took to Twitter to appreciate Rohit's sacrifice as he wrote – “What @ImRo45 did for @cheteshwar1 that's leadership. #captain”