#INDvAUS 4th Test: Right in the balance

Sunday was never expected to be an ideal day for cricket in this hilly town nestling at the foothills of the Dhauladhar ranges. With the weathermen predicting disruption in play due to slight showers over the next two days until Monday, the Indian batsmen were eager to make the most of the sunshine that greeted them on their arrival.

Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were greeted by some top-class bowling by Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Instead of the weather, there were rising deliveries by the opponents that forced the Indians to think about survival. The comparison could well be drawn from the fact that if Australia scored 131/1 in the first session of Day 1 on Saturday, then the hosts could only manage 64/1 with Vijay back in the pavilion.

The similar scenario continued throughout the day as India crawled to 248/6 in the day’s quota of 90 overs, with 52 runs still to be made to draw parity with Australia’s first innings total of 300.

The situation could well have been different had top scorer Rahul (60) and Wriddhiman Saha (unbeaten 10) were not dropped off Cummins at their individual scores of 10 and 9, respectively. But one has to praise curator Sunil Chauhan to roll out such a cricketing wicket for this series decider.

Ask Hazlewood and Cummins how much they must be relishing to see their efforts being appreciated. Despite the fact that sunshine graced the 10,000-plus crowd throughout the day, the visiting bowlers kept up the intensity with their spirited efforts.

India, too, had some steely display by Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara who were once again ensured an even contest between bat and bowl. Vijay was the first to lose his patience when he fell in Hazlewood’s outside off-stump trap. Before that, he and Rahul were showing great resilience by leaving some sharp rising deliveries targeted at their rib cage.

The only one time when Rahul’s concentration lapsed, Matt Renshaw failed to get his full hand on to a flying ball past slip cordon. After that, Rahul and Pujara showed some real resistance to frustrate the Aussies. In their battle, though, they missed out on opportunities to score.

It was only after Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe were brought in that the two Indians started to dance around the track in search of a few boundaries. Their 87-run second-wicket partnership was the best launch pad from where the Indians could have thought of surpassing the Aussie total. Alas, an ill-conceived attempted pull shot by Rahul undid all the hard work and put India back on the struggling road.

Ajinkya Rahane, in his first outing as Test captain, looked ready to douse the Aussie fire with his cool temperament. The six that came off his edge while attempting a pull off Cummins was one such example. But Rahane also showed patience and resilience to put up another partnership. A total of 153/2 at tea was not at all a bad score at this stage. But a disciplined Aussie attack kept up the pressure before Lyon took charge.

Lyon has been struggling to find rhythm in the series after taking 8/50 in the first innings of the second Test in Bengaluru. In fact, he sent down some 75 overs without getting any success before dismissing Pujara here on Sunday. And mind it, it was also his 15th over of the day.

There was no stopping him after the prized wicket of Pujara as he went on to grab a total of four after tea. But Saha and Ravindra Jadeja somehow managed to survive the last four overs with the new ball and take the fight into the third morning on Monday.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ravindra Jadeja became the third all-rounder to score 500 runs and capture 50 wickets in the same season in Tests - 509 runs and 68 wickets in 13 Tests. Kapil Dev achieved the feat in 1979-80 while Australia’s Mitchell Johnson had recorded the distinction in 2008-09