FOLLOW IND V AUS DAY 2 2ND TEST LIVE :
Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara have seen India through without further damage. They end day one at 36/1. That was a gripping day of Test cricket. After being asked to bowl on a traditionally batsmen friendly pitch, India put on a clinical bowling performance, led by Bumrah and Ashwin who shared seven wickets between them. It was a memorable debut for Siraj who bagged a couple too as Australia were bowled out for 195. In response, India lost opener, Mayank Agarwal, for a duck before Pujara and Gill, another debutant, steadied the ship. That would be all from our side. Thanks for joining us.
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA SECOND TEST - SCORECARD
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India 35/1 after 10 Overs: After having played and missed a few upfront, Gill seems to be getting used to the pace and bounce of this wicket. He even played a sweetly timed straight drive off Cummins and a splendid drive past mid-off off Nathan Lyon, who replaces Cummins. Josh Hazlewood has replaced Starc.
India 23/1 after 7 Overs : Gill gets three more boundaries off Mitch Starc. At the other end, Pujara doing what Pujara does best: biding time before opening his account with a well-timed stroke down the ground for four. Less than 15 minutes left in the day's play.
India 5/1 after 4 Overs: Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not given an inch with the new ball. Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill have been beaten on a few occassions already. For Gill, who finally got off the mark with a straoght drive off Cummins, this must feel like baptism by fire. He was dropped on four by Labuschagne in the slips.
India 0/1 after 1 Over: Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill march out to the middle. Starc will take the new ball. Agarwal will take strike. Good first ball, swinging into the right-hander and Mayank does well to defend it. Starc has been on the money these three deliveries .. the third ball is 146 clicks an hour, homing in into the stumps; Agarwal does well to dig it out. GONE! Agarwal has been given out lbw. He reviews but to no avail. Starc strikes!
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Australia have been bowled out for 195. Ravindra Jadeja gets Pat Cummins out. Bumrah returns figures of four for 56. He was ably supported by Ashwin and Siraj who picked three and two wickets respectively. India will have around 15 overs to negotiate before stumps.
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Australia 179/8 after 71 Overs : So where to from here for Australia? Surely, Cummins and Lyon will not just hang around. They will look to score as many as possible, as early as possible before they get a ball with their name on it. Meanwhile, Ashwin has been taken off the attack. Ravindra Jadeja gets a crack at the tailenders with a little over 30 minutes to go for the end of day's play.
Australia 166/8 after 68 Overs: GONE! Bumrah, you beauty. Bowls a well-directed bouncer and Starc can only hook it as far as Siraj at long-leg. Wicket No. 3 for India's pace spearhead. Lyon joins Cummins. This has been a clinical display from India - they have bowled well, they have caught well and Rahane has been spot on with his tactics.
Australia 156/7 after 65 Overs : Starc and Cummins in the middle for Australia. How long before Rahane turns to Bumrah to try and wipe out the tail as cheaply as possible? For the time being, he is contend with Ashwin and Siraj bowling in tandem.
Australia 155/6 after 62 Overs:Cam Green has been adjudged lbw. Tim Paine convinces his teammate to review it but replays show three reds and Siraj has his second wicket ! The ploy to persist with Siraj after the break has paid off. India are now into the Australian tail.
Australia 145/5 after 59 Overs : Ashwin and Siraj continue to keep Green and Paine under check, not too many loose deliveries yet. The tactics have been on point from Rahane. From Australia's perspective, this is the partnership that needs to do the bulk of the scoring because it's all bowlers after this. Rahane has also been very good with his DRS calls; he has got an excited bunch around him, trigger friendly bowlers but Rahane has held his ground.
Australia 143/5 after 56 Overs: Tim Paine got off the mark with a pull shot for four. Siraj and Ashwin in tandem after the break. You'd imagine Rahane has perhaps missed a trick by not turing to Bumrah right after the break, even if it is for a short burst. He has been India's standout bowler so far, along with Ashwin. Meanwhile, Paine survives a close run out chance. Is the bat on the line when Pant broke the stumps? That's the call the third-umpire had to make and he reckons Paine is in. Not out.
Australia 136/5 after 53 Overs: Cameron Green will take strike after the break. Ashwin to start proceedings in the last session. Slip, leg slip and short leg in place. A maiden first up. Ashwin on the money.
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Another exciting session comes to an end as Labuschagne and Head have been sent back to the dugout, having led the greater part of the show in the second session. The track lost much of the moisture from the earlier hours of the day but the added bounce on offer from the track helped the pacers. Siraj, although impressive at the start, lost a bit of the plot later on but then again came back well to get the all-important wicket of Labuschagne.
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Australia 136/5 after 52 Overs: Siraj continues to look at angling the ball in towards the right-handed Labuschagne.
Skipper Tim Paine joins Green. India retains a review after going upstairs as a delivery crashes into Paine's pads. The ball tracker throws up "umpire's call".
Two overs down, Siraj goes up again. Pant too; he gets in the act for all appeals though. Rahane isn't interested and that is an excellent call from someone stationed at gully, as seconded by the giant screen only moments later.
Australia 134/4 after 49 Overs:
Ashwin concedes only a single off the 47th over. Siraj replaces Bumrah and follows up with a maiden. Bowls mostly fuller with two bouncers to push Green onto his back foot. Labuschagne punches one through the extra cover region and runs three in the next over of Ashwin.
Australia 130/4 after 46 Overs: Green testing waters as Bumrah tries to trouble him early on with varied lengths. Did India miss a trick by not giving the ball to the Gujarat pacer straight after the break? There's a confident appeal from Rahane and Co. after Umesh's last delivery of the next over strikes Labuschagne on the thigh pad. This was, however, clearly going down leg and the umpire wasn't interested.
Australia 125/4 after 43 Overs: Umesh's massive front-foot no ball only tells the story of an erratic display from the Indians in the second session. Bumrah oversteps as well, TWICE, in the very next over.
Cameron Green joins Labuschagne, who is headed towards a fifty, in the middle. And all of a sudden, as Umesh bowls an absolute jaffa to Labuschagne, it seems like the Indian bowling unit is up and breathing again!
Australia 117/3 after 40 Overs:
Australia back in the box seat as the side enters triple figures. The Indian attack after lunch has been somewhat insipid, except for the occasional bumper or two. Bumrah, in the 40th, ends up conceding two back-to-back boundaries as well to only make things worse. Time for a drinks break.
Australia 97/3 after 37 Overs: Siraj hits Labuschagne on the head with a well-directed bouncer. Rahane checks on the Queensland batsman to see if he is okay. Mandatory concussion tests and helmet replacement underway. It looks like Labuschagne is okay enough to carry on. Head, in the meantime, continues to struggle against the odd short ball.
Australia 88/3 after 34 Overs: Head struggles to get on the top of the bounce off Siraj's bowling and almost ends up playing one to Rahane's hands at gully. Ashwin, in the next over, ends up conceding a boundary in byes as he goes exploring down leg and Pant doesn't manage to shuffle across in time. Labuschagne and Head have managed to run four off the last ball of the 34th over; we are going to see a lot of those today owing to the dimensions of the MCG.
Australia 72/3 after 31 Overs: Siraj is mixing it up well - even forcing Head to duck once with a sharp 140kph-plus bouncer. Ashwin, meanwhile, continues to use the bounce on offer to good effect to puzzle the Aussie duo.
Australia 67/3 after 28 Overs: Debutant Mohammed Siraj to start things off after lunch. And he is on the money, straightaway. Bowls the first one full and right in the slot with the left-handed Head on strike. Two runs come off the over.
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What a dramatic end to the first session. Labuschagne is given out lbw off Ashwin but he reviews and the replays show the ball sailing over the wickets. Australia go to lunch three down for 65. India takes the honours in the first session - probing spells from Ashwin and Bumrah keeping the Australians on their toes. Ashwin once again getting rid of Smith. Excellent captaincy from Rahane as well.
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Australia 54/3 after 25 Overs: Rishabh Pant is his usual chirpy self behind the stumps. He has been tidy thus far. Jadeja isn't getting the same purchase off this pitch as Ashwin. Maybe, it's time for a seamer to charge in for a short burst before lunch. A wicket before the break will put India firmly on top.
Australia 48/3 after 22 Overs: Wade will be livid with his shot selection. His dismissal ended up triggering a mini-collapse. The onus will be on Labuschagne and Head to see Australia through to lunch. Meanwhile, it's a dual spin attack for India with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin bowling in tandem.
Australia 41/3 after 19 Overs: A word on Rahane's captaincy: instead of turning to debutant Siraj, he brought Ashwin first change and the move paid dividends. Also noteworthy is the amount of turn Ashwin has got on this day one wicket. Very astute leadership from Jinx.
Australia 39/3 after 16 Overs: This has been a brilliant session for India after having lost the toss. They are all over Australia at the moment. The move to introduce Ravi Ashwin early into the attack has worked wonders so far. Massive props to Rahane as well. Meanwhile, Bumrah is in the middle of a probing spell. All of a sudden, the pitch seems to be playing all sorts of tricks.
Australia 35/2 after 13 Overs: GONE! Ravi Ashwin gets rid of Matthew Wade, Ravindra Jadeja pulling off a sharp catch while avoiding a collision with Gill. That was an unnecessary shot from Wade, looked to go after Ashwin and paid the price. That one dipped and turned, good bowling from Ashwin. Steve Smith joins Labuschagne. Excellent start from India.
Australia 25/1 after 10 Overs : Umesh Yadav has bowled well. He has been driven a few times but has stayed full. Has worked up good pace too. At the other end, looking at how Bumrah has bowled to the right-handers so far, Rahane has given him four slips and a gully. India on the attack here and they need to be because this first hour is crucial and they need to make inroads.
Australia 20/1 after 7 Overs: Bumrah and Umesh have started well, bowling fuller than they were in Adelaide. The movement in the air and off the pitch has encouraged the duo to pursue that line of attack. Meanwhile, Wade has looked positive during his short stay - a couple of punchy drives off Umesh to get him going.
Australia 10/0 after 4 Overs: Umesh Yadav is sharing the new ball with Bumrah. Wade got off the mark with a drive on the up, punched between cover and point for three. There's a bit of movement off the surface and definitely some swing on offer for the quicks. But apart from that, it's a pretty flat surface and an excellent toss to win you'd imagine. In between, Wade was squared up by a Umesh delivery, with the thick outside edge falling just short of Gill at second slip.
Australia 0/0 after 1 Over : Matthew Wade and Joe Burns strut out to the middle. Bumrah to take the new ball. Three slips and a gully in place. Burns to take strike. Bumrah starts off with three dots. He is getting some good movement with the new ball, is Bumrah. He has been on the money so far. Testing stuff first up, a maiden to start proceedings.
The national anthems are done. We are all set for live action in Melbourne. Just for your information, Cheteshwar Pujara is the team's vice captain.
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TOSS UPDATE : Australia has won the toss and elected to bat first.
STAT ALERT
This is the 100th Test between Australia and India. Australia have won 43 and India 28. There has been just one tie and 27 draws. England is the only other team that has played more than 100 or more Tests against India.
Boxing Day Tests between India and Australia in Melbourne
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