The Men in Blue had a memorable outing on Day 2 of the first Test match against Australia. India’s dynamic openers, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, displayed immense mental application and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 172 runs in 57 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal took on Australian bowlers and was quite fearless, just like in the recently concluded England Test series.
Pat Cummins would be shell-shocked, given how they allowed India to get the upper hand in the first Test match. Australian fans would wonder whether this is the same team that won the ICC WTC 2021-23 final against India. It won’t be wrong to say that the Aussies looked a bit under-prepared for the iconic Test series.
Australia’s tail-enders annoy Indian bowlers; the visitors get 46 run lead
India skittled out Australia for 104 runs as at the end of Day 1, the Aussies’ score was 67-7 and skipper Jasprit Bumrah got the huge wicket of Alex Carey in his very first over. Mitchell Starc stood tall from one end but astoundingly wasn’t playing any attacking brand of cricket. Harshit Rana & Mitchell Starc were having banter.
The morning session was quite a slow-paced one where the Aussies scored 37 runs and lost 3 wickets and got bundled out for 104 runs giving India a sizeable 46 runs lead. Throughout the session, it was seen that Rishabh Pant & Virat Kohli were suggesting changes in the field placement. Mitchell Starc’s knock of 26 runs in 112 balls was quite confusing given in the past, Starc liked to dominate the bowler rather than playing the waiting game. Harshit Rana took a 3-wicket haul in his debut Test match & Jasprit Bumrah took yet another 5-wicket haul and gave away only 30 runs in his 18 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal & KL Rahul play out the tricky afternoon session
KL Rahul & Yashasvi Jaiswal were quite watchful in the 2nd session. Hazlewood, Starc & Cummins kept on bowling the off-stump channel deliveries but the duo showed immense grit & determination. The pitch all of a sudden became a bit easy for batting & footmarks were getting created which can help Indian bowlers during defending the target.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was intrepid against Mitchell Starc and was quite focused on rotating the strike. KL Rahul played the role of anchor who was quite happy to leave the ball rather than falling in the short ball trap/ cover drive one. Yashasvi Jaiswal & KL Rahul not at all were afraid to steal a single even in front of the fielder which was quite commendable, In the afternoon session, India scored 84 runs in 26 overs & India’s lead was 130 runs and both the batters were looking promising.
Yashasvi Jaiswal & KL Rahul dominate Aussie quicks
Josh Hazlewood bowled immaculate lines & lengths in the 3rd session where he was able to contain the batters. Yashasvi Jaiswal & KL Rahul were getting targeted by short-ball barrages by Hazlewood but that didn’t bother the opening pair. The way Yashasvi & KL negated the reverse swing & ignored the sledging says a lot about the team’s dynamics & culture.
Yashasvi Jaiswal though was dropped on 51 by Usman Khawaja on the bowling of Starc. Yashasvi didn’t allow the shrewd spinner Nathan Lyon to settle down even when Lyon was trying to bowl around the wicket & turn the ball quite wide off-stump as quite easily the openers will take singles & doubles. Pat Cummins’ captaincy was highly questionable as there were more than 3 fielders in the deep and he perhaps was waiting for batters to make a mistake which didn’t happen.
The highlight of the evening session would be the way Yashasvi stepped down the track & whacked a 100-meter six at long on & cleared the long on fielder with ease. Yashasvi Jaiswal (*90 runs in 193 balls & struck 7 fours and 2 sixes) & KL Rahul (62 runs in 153 balls and scored 4 fours) struck half-centuries & paced their innings quite next to perfection. Cummins even introduced Travis Head & Marnus Labuschagne into the bowling attack which couldn’t yield any result at ll.
India’s score at the end of Day 2 was 172 runs in 57 overs and the lead is 218 runs we should not forget that the visitors didn’t play any ultra-attacking cricket. The openers gave a lot of respect to Aussie bowlers & capitalized a loose delivery. Josh Hazlewood bowled his heart out & was the pick of the bowlers who gave only 9 runs in his 10 overs and bowled 5 maiden overs.
What lies ahead on Day 3
Australia needs a miracle to win the Test match and needs a flurry of wickets to restrict India below 350 runs. The Perth surface undoubtedly has got better for batting but it would be improbable for Australian batters to chase down a total in excess of 300. Head coach Andrew McDonald needs to have some serious talks with the players & if we have observed the Aussie players on the field, it seems that they have given up on this 1st Test match. With 23 overs still remaining (*new ball is given after 80 overs) for the new ball, Aussies need an incredible exhibition of reverse swing bowling in the morning session of Day 3 to make a comeback which looks far-fetched
India on the other hand would be aiming to bat as long as they can given tomorrow is only Day 3. Yashasvi & KL have a golden chance of scoring a ton which will be remembered for a long time in the history of BGT 2024-25. India has made a statement that one bad inning doesn’t determine their batters’ quality. If India set the target close to 400 then they would be the sure-shot favorites to announce their arrival in BGT 2024-25 trophy defense.