India looks dominant against Australia on Day 3 of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, a sharp contrast to their performance two days ago.
At tea on day one of the first test in Perth, India's stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah would have been ruing his decision to bat first after his side were skittled for 150 by Australia's experienced seam attack.
But in a stupendous display of fast bowling in the final session, Bumrah (4-17) managed to turn the game on its head, sending three of Australia's top-four packing in the first seven overs. Finally, Australia was bundled out for 104 as India take 46-run first-innings lead.
As expected, the internet quickly caught fire with memes celebrating Bumrah’s brilliance for the massive turnaroud
Meanwhile, the second inning started on a fiery note with Yashasvi Jaiswal hitting his first test century.
Jaiswal on Sunday emerged as the unofficial flag-bearer of Indian batting for the next decade and a half as India's lead swelled to a commanding 405 at tea, despite the fall of a few wickets on the third day of the opening Test against Australia.
At tea, India were 359 for 5 in their second innings. A little over a month shy of his 23rd birthday, Jaiswal, who has already announced his arrival on the big stage, notched up a classic 161 off 297 balls -- his fourth century in Tests -- which has provided his skipper Jasprit Bumrah with enough ammunition to exploit the variable bounce that is starting to trouble batters.
Virat Kohli (40 batting, 74 balls) used all his decade and half of experience in Test cricket is ensuring that the chase goes beyond Australia's reach and the classic on-drive off rival skipper Pat Cummins reminded one and all of the golden days that the 'King' has enjoyed in this part of the world. Devdutt Padikkal (25) and Dhruv Jurel (1) didn't make most of the big break that they got and are all set to be replaced in the next Test in Adelaide with both skipper Rohit Sharma and injured Shubman Gill set to be back in action. Rishabh Pant's (1) intent was spot-on but execution can always go wrong when one plays a high-risk game.
The post-lunch session turned out to be the most productive one for Australia since the opening day as India, starting the session at 275 for 1, slumped to 321 for 5 but by then the lead was well past 360-run mark and it didn't hurt the team much. With no seam movement, Kohli was able to control the other factor -- variable bounce -- and his front-foot stride was way more assured compared to first essay. However if India go on to win the Test match, Jaiswal and KL Rahul (77)'s 201 run opening stand would be as important as Jasprit Bumrah's first innings five-for.
(With agency inputs)
