It was a strange sight for cricket lovers to see Melbourne wicket, low and slow, on day two of a test match. May be, the ground was under prepared as the Sheffield tournaments and Big bash league hosted several matches prior to the boxing day test. The runs did not come easy for Indian batsmen, as they had to spend quality time and play a quality innings to build a tall first innings score.
Mayank Agarwal played a dream test debut innings, as he was tested by Australian bowlers with high quality pace, movement and bounce. He left the bouncers with precision and played Nathan Lyon with lot of assurance, which was missing even from some experienced players in Indian batting line up. He left a strong message to the selection committee that he is one of the answer to top order worry. His knock of 76 was well appreciated by cricketing legends and everyone felt that a debut hundred would have been icing on the cake.
The openers toiled and the seniors stood up for the efforts of the 2 youngsters, when they backed it up with classy individual efforts of their own. Yet another classy hundred from Chetheswar Pujara, Kohli and Rohit Sharma's fifties and Rahane's crucial partnership with Rohit Sharma extended our first innings to a sizable score.
Australia batted for only 6 overs after Kohli declared the innings, when India reached 443 for 7. The six overs had its challenges for both the Aussie openers, as the wicket kept low, even with the new ball. Ravindra Jadeja will have a role to play and Kohli might even throw the ball to Hanuman Vihari, in absence of Ashwin, who would have made it tough for Australian batsmen to settle and play a long innings.
Day 3 would be crucial for India's chances to gain a lead in the series. The only benefit for Australian batsmen is the slowness of the wicket and if Australia could bat out time, they could push the Indians to play their second innings too, as they could target the follow-on score with couple of good partnerships. It is very tough to score runs at a faster pace in this wicket. Indians should get Australia all out before first session of Day 4, so that they could pull a win out of this boxing day test.
Kohli should use his bowlers wisely, as longer spells for the need of the wicket, would tire his fast bowlers quickly. Ravindra Jadeja and Vihari should help the Indian fast bowlers to stay fresh in their spells, which should ideally be result oriented in form of wickets. Test match is poised nicely and Indians have placed themselves strongly to effect a win from here.
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