Cheteshwar Pujara’s face-off with Australia was one of the most anticipated subplots of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and it met all expectations as the two came head-to-head again during day two of the third Test at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Thursday.
Unlike the storied Gabba innings of 2021, where he summoned the entire body into his act of resistance, Pujara here blocked with sheer bloody-minded effort and skill, and in the company of the tail, took the sting out of Australia’s probing spin attack from one end.
But just as he was starting to push that lead into a realm, where the haunting words of Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert, “Houston… we’ve had a problem here,” may have started ringing in the visitor’s dressing room, Steve Smith plucked a one-handed blinder at leg-slip to send Pujara back for 59. Nathan Lyon was the wrecker-in-chief with 8 for 64 as India set Australia a target of 76.
If Dharamsala — the original venue for the third Test — was imagined to be Australia’s succour, Indore was expected to be just another stop in a series of seemingly never-ending torment for the visitor. However, while Australia’s current spin trio may be far off from being feted as one of the world’s best - with the exception of Lyon - they held up their end of the bargain at the Holkar Stadium by being disciplined and patient.
After taking an 88-run lead, Australia struck early. Shubman Gill’s bizarre shot selection brought about his demise in the first over after Lunch. He callously skipped out to a good length ball from Lyon for a wild heave but did not get anywhere close to the pitch of the delivery and lost his woodwork, beaten by the turn and dip.
Matt Kuhnemann, who shared the new ball with Mitchell Starc, did not get as much turn today, but his unerring line to Pujara, nagging away at middle and leg, had India’s No. 3 on his toes. Smith amplified the pressure with two slips and a short-leg fielder.
With India still 56 in arrears, the pressure took its toll, not on Pujara but Rohit Sharma, who misjudged Lyon’s length to be struck on the pads plumb in front. It was the eighth time he had accounted for Sharma in 10 Tests. Kuhnemann was then rewarded for his hard work when Virat Kohli went back to a ball that kept a touch low and beat his angled bat to trap him lbw for 13.
Meanwhile, Pujara stood like a rock at the other end. There seemed to be a greater sense of stability at the crease, a decisiveness in his footwork as he flicked the spinners and chipped away at the deficit with Ravindra Jadeja, albeit at a glacial pace. Pujara refrained from playing horizontal batted shots and ran well between the wickets. But when Jadeja was adjudged lbw off Lyon minutes before Tea, India was still 10 behind with six second-innings wickets in hand.
However, India went on the offensive in the final session, with Shreyas Iyer leading the counterattack. He was helped by Kuhnemann, who occasionally bowled short and was smacked for two fours and as many sixes by Iyer; the second maximum prompting Smith, who was standing at slip, to gesture Mitchell Starc at long-off to warm up. The bowling change worked pronto as Starc struck with the second ball of his new spell; a diving Usman Khawaja at midwicket intercepting a firm flick from Iyer to complete a stunning catch. K.S. Bharat and Ravichandran Ashwin fell cheaply. But it was Pujara’s dismissal which felt like the final nail in the coffin.
India’s Cheteshwar Pujara walks back to the pavilion. | Photo Credit: ANI
Earlier, on a dusty wicket, Peter Handscomb held his side together not so much with adhesive tape as reinforced concrete, proving that batting needn’t always have to be attractive to be impactful. Here, Handscomb kept playing the line of the ball to guard against the one that came straight. He was unfazed every time Jadeja zipped the ball past his outside edge, defending off the front foot with soft hands. Handscomb, in the company of Cameron Green, added 30 from 16 overs in the first hour, with the lead creeping to 77.
But just when there were signs that an absorbing fifth-wicket 40-run stand could transform into something more, Ravichandran Ashwin (3 for 44), bowling from the Pavilion End, successfully exploited a patch of dust just outside the off-stump and got the ball to leap at Handscomb, who got an inside edge to Iyer at short-leg. His patient 19 off 98 could yet prove to be very crucial.
Green was then struck on the back pad by Umesh Yadav (3 for 12) in the very next over. The on-field decision was out. However, Green reviewed it, but to no avail. Those two dismissals hastened the end of Australia’s first innings as it slipped from 192 for 7 to be bowled out for 197. Along the way, Umesh also completed 100 Test wickets in India, becoming only the fifth pacer to achieve this feat after Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.
The state of the surface and how fast this Test has moved could be gauged from the fact that 30 wickets fell by Stumps on the second day. For Australia, a historic day beckons while India will believe if Australia can lose 6 for 11 once, it can happen again.
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