IND vs AUS Day 2: Nothing has changed in Adelaide even after 4 years, Team India is again on the verge of defeat
Four years ago, it was also the month of December, when a day-night test match was played between India and Australia in Adelaide. This was the same test in which the Indian team was all out for just 36 runs in the second innings and Australia won the match. Now even in December 2024, the condition of Indian batting in front of the pink ball at the Adelaide Oval Ground did not change. It was just that the Indian team did not collapse on a small score like 36 runs, but after the end of the second day's play, once again it was standing on the verge of defeat, where it had only 5 wickets left and it is 29 runs behind Australia.
Like the first day of the Adelaide Test, the second day also went completely in the favour of the host Australia. It is very important for the Australian team, which is trying to make a comeback after the shocking defeat in the Perth Test, to win this Test and under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, this team took a big step towards it on Saturday. Now its eyes are on ensuring victory, for which it will have to take the remaining 5 wickets of India in the second innings on the third day i.e. Sunday 8 December. By the end of the second day, India scored 128 runs after losing 5 wickets.
Boland trapped, Cummins-Stark intimidated
The second innings did not start well for Team India, which was all out for just 180 runs in the first innings. After bowling out Australia for 337 runs, the Indian team was 157 runs behind. In such a situation, to give a big target to the host team, it first had to eliminate this big lead but once again its opening pair failed in this match. Cummins started this by taking the wicket of KL Rahul, while Scott Boland, who made it to the Test match, took the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal on his very first ball and then in a short time got rid of Virat Kohli cheaply.
After this, Shubman Gill and captain Rohit Sharma also left and the manner in which both of them got out will never be forgotten. Gill was bowled by a fast inswinging yorker from Mitchell Starc. The middle stump had been uprooted and fallen on the ground. Rohit's return in the middle order was not good. He was deceived while trying to defend Pat Cummins' ball. The ball left the outer edge of his bat and hit the off stump. In the last one year, Kagiso Rabada and Tim Southee have also bowled Rohit in this way in Tests. Despite all this, Rishabh Pant (28 not out) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (15 not out) started batting aggressively as soon as they came and scored many boundaries by playing some risky shots.
Head's attack after Labuschagne's aggressive innings
Australia's dominance started in the first session on the second day as well, with Jasprit Bumrah taking the wickets of Nathan McSweeney (39) and Steve Smith (2) in quick succession in two overs. Despite this, this session went in Australia's favour as Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head held the team together with a fighting partnership. Labuschagne (64), who faced a lot of criticism after the last Test, scored a brilliant half-century in difficult conditions, while Travis Head attacked after a slow start and completed his fifty.
Then the second session was completely in the name of Travis Head, who completed his brilliant century in 111 balls. This was his second century against India and third century on Adelaide's home ground. Travis Head played a brilliant innings of 140 runs in just 141 balls. The rest of the batsmen spent some time on the crease and supported him, but the runs came from Head's bat only. India's consistently poor bowling also contributed to this, in which experienced Mohammad Siraj and young Harshit Rana played an important role in straying from the line. However, Siraj bowled Head. Bumrah and Siraj took 4-4 wickets for Team India.