India Struggles to 82/4 at Tea in the Pink-Ball Test
Adelaide: Mitchell Starc’s blistering spell dented India’s top-order, leaving them at 82/4 by Tea on the opening day of the second Test at the Adelaide Oval. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (1) and Rishabh Pant (4) were at the crease, fighting to steady the innings after a tough first session.
Opting to bat first, India endured an early setback when Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed on the very first ball of the innings. Starc trapped him leg-before-wicket, putting the visitors on the back foot at 0/1.
Shubman Gill, making his return from a thumb injury, looked aggressive from the outset. He struck two elegant boundaries off Starc, signaling his intent. KL Rahul joined him at the crease, and the pair navigated the challenging pink-ball conditions effectively. However, Rahul was handed a lifeline in the eighth over when he edged a Scott Boland delivery to Alex Carey, only for the bowler to be called for overstepping. At the 10-over mark, India stood at 30/1, with Gill and Rahul holding firm.
Rahul, fresh off an impressive showing in the Perth Test, continued his fine form, driving with authority. His back-to-back boundaries off Pat Cummins in the 15th over brought up India’s 50 in 14.5 overs. However, Starc ended Rahul’s promising innings at 37 runs off 64 balls with six fours, courtesy of a sharp catch by Nathan McSweeney at gully. India was 69/2 at this stage.
Virat Kohli started confidently but fell to Starc for just seven runs, caught in the slips by Steve Smith. India’s troubles deepened at 77/3 in the 21st over. Soon after, Gill’s resistance ended as he was trapped lbw by Boland for 31 runs off 51 balls, which included five boundaries. By the time the players broke for Tea, India had slumped to 82/4, with Pant and Rohit left to rebuild.
Changes and Context: India Aims to Maintain Series Lead
India entered the match with momentum, having secured a commanding 295-run victory in the first Test in Perth. However, the specter of the 2020 Adelaide pink-ball debacle, where India collapsed for a historic low of 36 runs, loomed large.
The visitors made three changes to their XI: Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill returned, the latter after recovering from a thumb injury, while Ravichandran Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar. Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel also made way. Ashwin, who has an impressive pink-ball record with 18 wickets at an average of 13.83, added depth to the bowling attack.
Australia, on the other hand, replaced the injured Josh Hazlewood with Scott Boland.
Playing XIs:
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
India will need a resilient effort from their lower order to post a competitive first-innings score and keep their lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series alive.
