Guwahati: India’s third Test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has gotten off to a terrible start losing five wickets for a pitiful total on Wednesday at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
India opted to bat first after winning the toss but they quickly lost wickets to Australia’s outstanding bowling. The opening duo of captain Rohit Sharma and in-form Shubman Gill were eliminated for low scores for the men in blue. Matthew Kuhnemann, who also dismissed Gill for 21 runs, dismissed Rohit Sharma for 12 runs.
Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara was the next to follow who only hit one run before being bowled by Nathan Lyon. Soon after, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who had saved the team with his bat and had been in outstanding form with the ball throughout the series, was dismissed off a delivery from Lyon and caught by Kuhnemann at short cover. Jadeja left the game after facing nine pitches and scoring just four runs.
Then it was Shreyas Iyer’s turn to leave on the cheap. Iyer could not able to trouble the scoreboard, going for 0 off two balls. Kuhnemann, who has caused chaos in Indore alongside Lyon, took his wicket. Lyon has already claimed two wickets, while Kuhnemann has claimed three.
It is up to Srikar Bharat and former skipper Virat Kohli who are in the middle to salvage something from India’s opening innings. India has a 2-0 series advantage after dominating the first two games.
Australia, who have got criticism for their batting performance so far in the series, are coming in hard against India in the third Test. India will be able to qualify for the World Test Championship if they defeat Australia in the current four-match series by a score of either 3-0 or 3-1. Australia presently leads that ranking as well.