The way Umesh Yadav started the day, all would have thought that the Indian bowlers will soon tumble the Australian batting line-up but hopes were soon shattered as Aussie batsmen stood tall, so tall that India bowlers weren’t even half of their height. Kangaroos showed utmost patience and boldness, sans in last few minutes of the first session. They churned out a total of 102 runs from India’s bowling, to mount the highest total on this tour in an international game.
Glenn Maxwell, who might have suffered some jerk in his hand after his bat was broken on the first delivery, soon reached nervous nineties after hitting a couple of boundaries at the start of the day. He did not stay in the nineties for long and shrug off the pressure by scoring his first ever century in Test cricket. An injury to Mithcell Marsh proved to be a boon for both Australia and Maxwell.
Though he was soon dismissed after crossing the three-figure mark as Ravindra Jadeja, the lone wicket-taker for India in the morning got him caught by wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps on 104.
Ravindra Jadeja was quick to launch an attack and he was testing batsman ability to play against the spin. But correct application from Aussies, especially from Mattew Wade kept him on the bay for long. Wade, instead of going back which came in after hitting the rough, moved ahead on his off stump to minimise and cut the amount of spin from it.
Though he got dismissed soon before lunch but this sort of application was something which is yet to be seen from Indian batsmen. He was out on well made 37 off 50 balls and played his part quite well.
It was another wicket of Pat Cummins on a duck before lunch that somehow gave a reason to the Indian team to smile. Still, the home side has a steep mountain to climb as the visitors have mounted such a humongous total. Unclarity of the fact whether Indian skipper Virat Kohli will come out to bat or not adds to the pressure.
Brief Score: Australia 401/7 (Steve Smith 153*, Glenn Maxwell 104; Ravindra Jadeja 4-106) vs India in Ranchi at JSCA Stadium.