5 Talking Points from India vs Australia 3rd Test, Day 4 

Indians took the field at the MCG on day 4 of this match hoping to add a few more runs to their overnight tally. India declared at 105-8 and set Australia a mammoth target of 399 in the second innings.

Marcus Harris walked back with a low score yet again and Aaron finch did not last long either. Khawaja and Marsh put on a spirited stand for the 3rd wicket but Shami bowled a beauty to dismiss Khawaja. Bumrah yet again trapped Marsh in front of the stumps and Head threw away his wicket with a loose cover drive.

Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers once again and Jadeja maintained a consistent line and length to stop the flow of runs from one end. Cummins fought a lone battle from one end and dragged Australia to 255-8 at the end of day’s play. Here are a few talking points from this day.

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#1 Cummins’s fighting half-century

Pat Cummins

Without any doubt, Pat Cummins has been Australia’s best player this series and this time he bailed Australia out of a tough situation with an invaluable half-century in the second innings. The most stunning aspect of Pat Cummins’s performance in this match has been his incredible work rate.

After consistently bowling high 140s and hitting the deck hard by bending his back for 45 overs in the game, He just never looked tired during his brilliant batting performance. He showed that he has the technique to survive against a good bowling attack and he always looked to play with a straight bat and was reluctant to throw away his wicket.

At the end of the day’s play, the whole of MCG erupted to applaud their lone warrior for his “never give up” attitude even though Australia have very little chances of winning this test. Tomorrow again, Cummins won’t give up easily and India will be hoping to get red him of quickly.

#2 Khawaja vs Jadeja

Jaddu

So far in this series, Usman Khawaja has been disappointing with the bat considering his brilliant record in home conditions. In the first innings, Jadeja utilized the rough to extract some turn to dismiss Khawaja.

In the second innings, Jadeja was brought into the attack early and Khawaja had decided to counterattack him. What followed was a top-class battle between bat and ball until Shami dismissed Khawaja.

In Jadeja’s first over, Khawaja played a beautiful lofted drive over mid-off and Jadeja responded by bowling quick through the air and almost got him out LBW twice. Khawaja once again attacked Jadeja with a well-executed reverse sweep but when he tried it again next ball, Jadeja was up to the task and beat him with a quick slider.

For the next few overs, the same script played out as Khawaja did not allow Jadeja to settle and was beaten by his disciplined bowling while trying some extravagant shots.

#3 Pant’s crucial contribution

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is yet to get a big century this series, but it is safe to say that he has done his job decently so far. When the test match resumed on day 4, India were 57-5 and were looking for someone to hang around with Agarwal. Pant did not try anything fancy and kept the scoreboard ticking by punishing the loose deliveries and showed that he can bat according to the needs of his team.

He did show his prowess as a hitter when he smothered a full delivery from Hazlewood into the sightscreen. Once on the field, he played a part in keeping the energy of the team high as he constantly encouraged the bowlers and even tried to play a few mind games with Paine by calling him the “temporary captain”.

He registered his 19th dismissal of this series when he took a good, low catch to dismiss Paine.

#4 Head’s inability to score big

Travis Head

The talent of Travis Head has never been in doubt and he has showed a lot of promise in these early days of his international career. But slowly there is a pattern emerging in the way he is getting dismissed and this is not great news for Australia.

Almost all the innings in this series, he has toiled very hard against some brilliant bowling by the Indians but after all that hard work he suddenly tries to play an uncharacteristic shot and throws away his wicket. The same story continued in the 2nd innings at MCG as he was cautious against Bumrah and displayed solid defense against Jadeja.

Just when it looked like he was set to score big, he tried to put away a half-volley from Ishanth Sharma by driving loosely and he paid the price for it as the inside edge clattered the off stump. But, He is still young and Australian fans will be hoping that he learns quickly from these failures.

#5 The tail frustrates India again

Cummins and Lyon

This series is not the first time this year when the tailenders have regularly frustrated the Indian bowler. In England, Sam Curran along with the tailenders almost singlehandedly took the series away from India. In Australia, Pat Cummins, Starc and Lyon have all managed to score freely against the Indian bowlers.

When Tim Paine was dismissed Australia were 176-7 but once again the Indian pacers found it tough to remove the tailenders. First Starc combined with Cummins and put on a determined partnership before being dismissed by Shami. Then, Lyon did his job well and gave the strike to Cummins whenever possible.

Cummins was very positive against the Indian pacers and this resulted in Kohli stretching out the fields and run-scoring became easy. Unlike in England, the tailenders might not have won the game for Australia since the Indians are still in a comfortable position but India will be hoping to rectify this problem in Sydney.