Moving Day - Moved an inch closer to India's Chances

The 3rd day completely belonged to the Indians, who quickly wrapped up aussies in the 1st hour, by taking the remaining 4 wickets by giving away only 38 runs. Jadeja had a role in all the 4 wickets that fell this morning. A great catch to dismiss Mitchel starc and followed it up by picking 3 wickets. A commendable effort by the bowlers to restrict the first innings lead to below 100 runs.

The confidence rubbed on the first wicket partnership in our batting too. Mukund and Rahul stitched a nice partnership of 39 runs, while every indian fan would have ideally wanted them to wipe off the deficit. Cricket is a game that has psychological aspect hidden in it too. The moment Indians wiped off the deficit with 9 wickets to spare, the dressing room and indian fans started to look at the test match as an one innings match. K L Rahul played a fantastic knock of 51 and he got out to a spectacular catch by Steve Smith, who has taken many blinders like that. The pitch did not look threatening at all, when K L Rahul batted. He proved that he grew up in this wicket right from his young days. His shot selection was much more refined and matured in his second innings.

Cheteshwar Pujara showed to the world, why such players are crucial for a test match. He might have several drawbacks, like he might never be a good runner between the wickets, but he has the quality to trust his technique in testing conditions like this. We could not forget his gritty hundred against Srilanka in foreign conditions. Today, he carried his bat through and remained not out by scoring 79 crucial runs for him as well as for his team. He had his chances, but he used his feat well to negotiate the turn and bounce. We pray that he would go on to get a match winning hundred tomorrow.

Virat Kohli was defeated by DRS and umpire Nigel Long gave him out LBW thinking that the batsmen did not hit the ball. DRS never questions the umpire's decision and there was not a conclusive evidence whether the ball hit the bat first or the pad first. It was unfortunate that on field umpire's decision had to stay on. Then came an important captaincy decision of promoting Jadeja up the order. Though it did not help india's cause, Kohli should be appreciated for taking such calculated risks in a test match. I do not feel that it was done with the intention of demoting Ajinkya Rahane. Kohli wanted to use the attacking instincts of Jadeja to unsettle Aussie bowling.

Pujara and Rahane stitched a 93* run partnership and ensured that india go wicket-less in one whole session. Bangalore pitch condition would get slower and lower as each day progresses. We have stretched the lead to  126 runs and if we bat well tomorrow and push it right till Tea on day 4, then we could put aussies into lot of trouble. The current batting pair of Pujara and Rahane, along with Karun Nair (the local lad), Saha and Ashwin should help the indians stretch the lead beyond 200 runs. Then the pyschological aspect would start to play its way in the result of this match, assuming indian bowlers would repeat the performance of their first innings.

One cannot get their eyes off, when we have this kind of an evenly fought test match....

Day 2 - Shared between the Two

Great bowling by the Indian team on day 2! Virat Kohli and the whole fans should be proud of the Indian bowling unit, who came up with an exceptional performance. 10 wickets and 229 runs on day one beats 6 wickets and 197 runs on day two. Having said that, Indian bowlers created lot of chances and Aussies had to fight and graft their lead, which is now extended to 48 runs with 4 wickets in hand.

When such a fight goes on between the two sides, who would be worried about pitch conditions, definitely not me. Ashwin has bowled 41 overs for just 1 wicket and Umesh Yadav got his first wicket after bowling 21 overs. Ishant Sharma was asking questions almost 2 balls in each of the overs that he has bowled so far. Jadeja comes and picks the wicket so easily, after the other 3 bowlers dries up the runs. This is tremendous team effort.

My heart goes out to Renshaw. According to me, he played one of the greatest test innings in this modern cricketing times. Technique was exemplary and he had a smile on his face while he was facing a hostile bowling attack. Warner got out to a beauty from Ashwin and Smith got out when he took Jadeja's bowling lightly. Aussies were showing such grit and determination, even indian supporters applauded every individual fifties and 50 run partnerships of Aussie batsmen.

Kohli did a brilliant job of keeping his 4 bowlers fresh for their spells, by switching them at regular intervals. I felt, he missed a trick by not having enough men in the slip cordon for Ashwin and Umesh yadav. But, he was always fighting for a combination of attacking and defensive fielding positions as Indians had put on only 189 runs in their first innings.

The second person, whose effort might go unnoticed is Wridhimann Saha. He was brilliant behind the stumps. The attempt to catch the edge from Mitchel starc was treat for the eyes. We wish every half chance to be taken easily so that we have our nose ahead all the time. That's the beauty of Test cricket. It pushes you to do something spectacular, time and again. If Kohli would have had 2 slips for Umesh Yadav, may be it would have been an easy catch for the 1st slip. All said and done, great 2 days of Test cricket. And of course, Shaun Marsh's contributions was vital, but he had his chances too. 

Test cricket needs characters like Steve Smith, Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli, who made the day 2 lively for all the followers. As if the contest between the bat and the ball was not enough, Ishant and Smith started mimicking each other and nobody could draw a line. Virat and Smith exchanged words and Umpires could do nothing, as the captains themselves were involved. The Cameras on the ground captured every facial expression of the cricketers and it was funny, definitely not for the players, but for the crowd.

On Day 3, Indians have to come and get aussies all out as soon as possible, keeping a steady check on the first innings lead. Whichever team bats well in the second innings would go on to win the test match. Both the teams so far, has stuck to the formula of defense to build their innings. May be attack is the best form of defense in this pitch. It would be great to watch, as to how Virat Kohli goes about his second innings in this wicket. My gut feel says that Ravindra Jadeja's contribution with the bat in the second innings would prove vital for India's chances to win this test match. His batting style is also aggressive and he might push the lead beyond what aussies might look for.

Day 3 is the moving day of a test match and it is evenly poised as of now.....

2nd Test - India Vs Australia - Day One belong to the Aussies

Aussies dominated the Indians on all 3 sessions of the day and Steve Smith was brilliant in his field placements and bowling changes. Of course, it augurs well, if you have world class performers like Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Starc was bowling at high 145 kmph and Indian batsmen would have felt like playing him on Australian soil rather than Indian wickets. Hazelwood bowled the nagging off stump line and Spinners were fantastic too. Lyon bowled with such control through out, that he has raised an open challenge to Ravichandran Ashwin to match his performance and to let the world decide, who is the best off spinner in business ?

Indian Batsmen are getting tested on their grafting skills and their patience against a world class bowling attack. Including the first test in Pune, in all the 3 innings, Indians have exposed themselves out. Virat Kohli is currently making errors in his judgement as to which balls he should play and which ones to leave. Rahane is a free flowing batsmen and always had looked comfortable against pace bowling. He is terribly weak against spin bowling and he is due for a big score for long time now. Nathan Lyon completely blocked his run scoring options with smart field placements from steve smith and they planned Rahane's wicket neat and clean. Others are all inexperienced and aussies utilized it to their advantage.

All the bowling all rounders who performed really well so far against other attacks are surrendering without any fight against Aussies. Ashwin, Jadeja, Jayant Yadav have no answers against aussies so far. Virat Kohli has some pride to not fit the same playing eleven in 2 consecutive matches. Is it a healthy way to test your bench strength ? As of now, Aussies have planned for each member of our indian squad and the scores in the 3 innings are testimony to that. Our Batting unit has to click so that our bowlers fight with their heads high. Ashwin is a champion bowler and he should also have a solid score behind him to put up a fight. 1-0 down and winning the toss to bat first, was ideal scenario for our batsmen to set the series alive. 189 all out would obviously make the bowlers droop their shoulders down.

K L Rahul's innings was well appreciated by everyone, but I still feel that he has to go a long way to become a better test batsmen. He is still vulnerable outside the off stump and his shot selection given the field placement is also questionable at times. A Handy lead of 100 should be enough for Aussies to rule the second test. If Indian bowlers create any chance by restricting the lead to less than 50, then we are in for a good test match, as Aussies would find it tough. The 4th innings would pose such a challenge for them to score even 150 runs. Jadeja and Ashwin would be crucial, but the pace attack of Umesh yadav and Ishant also has to pick wickets to create a winning chance.

Looking forward for a good second day...