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SYDNEY : Scott Boland has played 13 tests always as a replacement for one of the triumvirate of bowlers who have locked up the Australian pace attack for the best part of a decade but he rarely fails to deliver for his country.
It was a show of pure grit and resilience from Indian cricket team wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant on Day 1 of the fifth Test match against Australia in Sydney on Friday. Pant remained strong in face of fiery pace bowling from Australia and although wickets continued to tumble on the other end, he scored a significant 40 off 98 deliveries. During his innings, he was left bruised on the arm by a stinging delivery from Mitchell Starc while a bouncer from the same bowler hit him on the helmet. He was forced to receive treatment from the physio on multiple occasions but it did not dampen his spirits.
India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant said he batted with restraint on the opening day of the fifth Test against Australia because character of the SCG pitch did not allow him to be in his customary aggressive self. Pant, who copped severe criticism from all corners for his callous approach to batting during the previous Test at Melbourne, made a 98-ball 40 in India's 185 all out here on Friday. "In this innings, I wasn't in frame of mind where I felt I could take charge of the game looking at nature of the wicket," Pant said in the post-day press meet.
A record-breaking 47,566 spectators packed the stands on day one of the fifth India-Australia Test on Friday, marking it the highest-ever opening day attendance for a Test match between the two teams at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Australian public continued to turn out in large numbers for the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. "The records keep on falling. Over 45,000 through the gates of the Sydney Cricket Ground on Day 1," Cricket Australia tweeted. This new mark comes just days after the all-time attendance record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was smashed earlier in the series.
A relentless Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc sliced through an Indian batting line-up missing Rohit Sharma on Friday to put Australia in a commanding position after day one of the fifth and final Test. The visitors were all out for 185 after Jasprit Bumrah -- captaining the side with Rohit "rested" -- sent his team in at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground. Boland with the chief destroyer with 4-31 while Starc took 3-49. In reply, Australia lost Usman Khawaja for two on the last ball before stumps with Bumrah doing the damage, leaving them at 9-1 with Sam Konstas on seven.
Team India's struggles against the new ball continue in Sydney as the likes of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal fail early to pacers. India seemed to have made some amends as Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill began forming a partnership but the latter departed on the final delivery of the first session, with Nathan Lyon emerging as his wicket-taker. Gill looked solid and decisive with his strokeplay until that delivery from Lyon but slip fielder Steve Smith also deserves credit for unsettling the India star.
Team India's collapse in the second innings of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Melbourne left them with almost no chance of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final. The lost also left the visitors 2-1 down in the ongoing series. India's top-order and middle-order suffered collapses at different stages, ultimately resulting in a 184-run defeat for them. Former India coach Ravi Shastri pointed out the major reason behind India's defeat, and hinted that Rohit Sharma's poor form was playing a major factor.
While the entire focus during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy is on the duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, another star performer Rishabh Pant has also been under scrutiny. The wicketkeeper-batter has scored 154 runs in 4 matches at an average of 22. While runs have not come as much as expected from the bat of Pant, his shot selections and batting approach have also been under the radar of critics, of late. Former India cricketer Atul Wassan feels the 27-year-old needs to "think" and "tamper" his game according to the situation.