In response to Australia’s first innings total of 474, India looked like they were in a position to counter-attack after the early dismissals of captain Rohit Sharma (3) and KL Rahul (24). Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was holding fort, and had just posted a century stand with Virat Kohli to take the visitors to 153/2. But then a horrible mix-up turned the tide towards the Aussies again, and could be the most pivotal moment in the fourth Test match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Jaiswal set off for a risky single after directing Pat Cummins at mid-on. Kohli decided to stay at the non-striker’s end and didn’t budge, which left Jaiswal stranded as Cummins then threw the ball to the wicketkeeper, who dislodged the bails. Jaiswal left for 82, and then the downfall began. Kohli departed for 36 and then Akash Deep was dismissed for a 13-ball duck, and both fell to pacer Scott Boland as India stuttered at 164/5, and trail by 310 runs.
Steve Smith reacts to Virat Kohli-Yashasvi Jaiswal mix-up
Speaking to Fox Cricket, Smith reacted to the huge mix-up between Kohli and Jaiswal, and called it a ‘big’ moment. “It looks like Jaiswal called ‘yes’ and ran and Virat sent him back. It is as simple as that,” he said.
“It was obviously a really good partnership to break that one and then obviously get two more wickets. It was a huge last hour for us, so, yeah, that was a big play in the context of the day, I suppose,” he added.
Smith was also asked if Australia preferred bowling to Kohli or Jaiswal. He said, “They were both looking really good.”
“Jaiswal played a nice innings today. (He was) aggressive and he hit any loose ball that was bowled basically. And as I said before, Virat looked like he was in for a bit of a masterclass with the way he started and the patience that he showed.
“So at that stage, we’d probably take (either one) of them. (It was) just fortunate, I suppose. And sometimes when you have one of those things happen and you break a partnership, you can get that other guy out quickly and that happened today, which was good for us,” he added.
Rishabh Pant (6*) and Ravindra Jadeja (4*) remained unbeaten for India, and will resume batting on Day 2.
