India VS Australia 2018-19

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The only time India lifted the Border-Gavaskar trophy was in 2003-04 when the series was drawn 1-1. Many considers this is the best chance for India to lift the trophy with a win, as this Aussies side is the weakest one to have played against India. Let's see how the summer shower it's heat in Australia. The schedule are as follows

T-20 series:
Match 1 - 21 November - Brisbane
Match 2 - 23 November - Melbourne
Match 3 - 25 November - Sydney


Test Matches

1. Adelaide : 6-12-18 to 10-12-18
2. Perth : 14-12-2018 to 18-12-18
3. Melbourne : 26-12-18 to 30-12-18
4. Sydney : 03-01-19 to 07-01-19

ODI Series:

Match 1 - 12 Jan - Sydney
Match 2 - 15 Jan - Adelaide
Match 3 - 18 Jan - Melbourne

To be honest I am not happy with the scheduling. Indian team management thinks that T-20 or the ODIs are the best way to get acclimatised to the home conditions and they were proved wrong in the last two tours. Still they have only one practise game for preparations. Also if the nepotism wonder R. Sharma gets into the XI, I will support Australia to repeat 2011.

Marsh's bowling action reminds me a bit of Caddick.

Cummins has looked the best of the bowlers ...and probably the only one who has really threatened to break through.
Not calling this a draw yet but I fancy there are going to be a lot of runs made on this strip...

...and indeed Cummins breaks the stand on the stroke of tea ! Agarwal gloves him to Paine to end a fine debut innings of 76

Cummins is all over Kohli and Pujara here... this partnership won't last too long.

They've settled now though.. and one or both of these two will fancy getting a century.

It Must Be Love wrote:Cummins is all over Kohli and Pujara here... this partnership won't last too long.

Not your best ever call , IMBL

Stand still a baby one by the standards of these two ; but if they can get through (five more overs ) to the close , tomorrow might be hard work for the fielding side...
Starc and Hazlewood keen to make sure that doesn't happen , of course...and so nearly ! Paine drops the rival skipper !

Nearly a successful jinx

These last few overs are really bringing some late life to the party ! A terrific over from Starc , and now Hazlewood has Pujara nearly ducking himself into trouble...
Going to finish one over light , I think , despite the overtime.

I'm at the ground tomorrow so might hope for a little more scoreboard action than today. Test Cricket is never dull ; but 215/2 in 89 overs isn't the sort of figure to inspire belief in the likelihood of a result over five days.

And indeed , that is the final score line. India's day but they'll need to get a move on in the morning.

To be fair to me Kohli I think was quite lucky both early in his innings vs Cummins and late on vs Starc. Few inside edges which just missed the stumps, and a dropped catch late on. Pujara looks a lot more assured.
Overall India's day, and they'll look to bat out tomorrow, get 250 more, to put themselves in a strong position. Pitch has very little swing but the bounce is a bit variable, India are gonna have to bowl exceptionally to get 20 wickets.

India have to be really happy with that. There pitch hasnt been completely lifeless for the whole day but theyve avoided any kind of collapse. If things continue the same way tomorrow then guys like Sharma and Pant could really be dangerous later on to push the scoring rate up.

I do agree with Alfie thought that a theres still a strong chance of a draw. Its still going to be a task to force a win though with only 4 proper bowlers one of whom has been carrying an injury and the other three who have bowled too many over already in the series.

But also lets not forget just how bad Australias batting line up is.

--For this Indian side...winning the toss is half the battle won...and not screwing up the team selection is another 1/4th battle won......and then they need to play percentage /par cricket to win the test.....thereafter a loss could be only if someone from the opponent has a super-performance game.

--The selection of openers was with the attitude...."whoever we choose cannot be worse than what openers delivered in last 10 tests"...and the approach worked.....Mayank's inning was extraordinary in the context as I heard and score suggests while I slept...and while team management might be satisfied that Vihari could see-off 66 balls......its detrimental to vihari's own longevity if he doesn't score......he must play strokes in second inning and get a 30+...cause Rohit will get some runs here


--India is set to get 400+ as India's nos 6 thru 8 are test level flat track stroke players....and they can counted to deliver 100 runs between them at the least on this flattest of the pitches so far in the series

However this was only D1....and I did see on 3rd session uneven bounce....balls take-off of a length and some keep really low.....and so it will deteriorate

All is not lost for Aus....as they have kept RR in check ...and in a low probability scenario... an inspired spell from Starc / Cummin can blow India out for 325ish....


India is 60-40 ahead

KP fan - Vihari was a little unlucky tbh. He played plenty of crunching drives that picked out the fielders. On another day he could raced to a rapid fire half century.

Vihari shouldn't have opened, i would have given Vijay one more test or Pujara to open with Vihari at 3...but Vihari took the shine off the new ball, and fought hard, i see him long term at 5 or 6 to be honest, other places at 3 and 4 are taken for long term

India's day clearly, but they haven't been allowed to run away with it. Couple of early wickets tomorrow, Australia will be right back in it....
Pretty impressive debut effort from Mayank Agarwal. He had to bide his time, score loads of runs at domestic level and really earn his opportunity. He grabbed it with both hands right at the outset. Looked the most positive and effective against Nathan Lyon among all the Indian batsmen of recent times, and that includes Kohli and Pujara.
Good solid effort from Cheteshwar Pujara. He has always put a price on his wicket, and has increased it even more in this series. His defense isn't the strongest even now, the bottom hand is still dominant rather unusally for a defensive batsman. Yet with great mental strength, he has found a way to succeed...
Kohli has made 47 not out and has put up a good partnership with Pujara. But this hasn't been one of his more fluent knocks... Besides the drop of Starc by the Australian skipper towards the close, he was troubled early in his innings by Cummins, and though he played some typical Kohli shots to score his first 20 runs at about a run-a-ball, he will have to tighten up tomorrow to make it big.

Pat Cummins has been Australia's best bowler along with Lyon in this series though unlike the latter, Cummins hasn't always had the wickets to show for his efforts. He transcended the conditions yet agin on day 1 at the MCG. To bounce out Vihari on that track took some effort, and his judicious use of the bouncer troubled all the Indian batsmen. Starc was not at his best to start with, a kind of story for the entire series, but produced terrific drama with that 2nd new ball, his pace kept going up and up as the day came to an end! Should have had Kohli but for that drop, but it was one of the better overs in test cricket in recent times. Even the track, nearly dead till then say for the odd one that kept a bit low seemed to aquire a bit of life through that Starc spell.

As for the MCG track, it doesn't seem that things have drastically improved on last year's horrer show. It was painfully slow to start with, there was no seam, swing or turn available. All that was there was a bit of uneven bounce. Add to that the slow outfield, it was a bit of a struggle for the batsmen and the bowlers, as well as the spectators. Australia do have the likes of Cummins and sStarc who can negate the conditions, but with the legs already clocking up significant miles in the first 2 tests, it is really asking for too much. The track could still wake up as the game goes on, but as Alfie suggested, there are runs to be scored on this pitch, and the bowlers have to be exceptional to take 20 on this one.

Returning to the question of who other than Rohit and that he had to be protected at 6... It was not that India didn't have options. Parthiv Patel is with the squad, as a backup wicketkeeper and as a reserve all position bat. He has opened in the past, and as a test batsman, he is likely to be more successful than Sharma. Parthiv could have opened, Vihari could have come in at 6 as he did deserve to. Anyways, Rohit has a goldan opportunity to score a few on this track. And if Kohli, Pujara and Rahane can handle the first half of the day tomorrow, Rohit might be able to take the game beyond Australia...

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:KP fan - Vihari was a little unlucky tbh. He played plenty of crunching drives that picked out the fielders. On another day he could raced to a rapid fire half century.

I wasn't watching live...so I missed his drives
On highlights he seemed terrible against short stuff.....taking his eyes off the ball....
He's gotta hook or show he can watch the ball & leave....else Fast bowlers have smelt blood and beat him black & blue & get him on short stuff

KP_fan wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:KP fan - Vihari was a little unlucky tbh. He played plenty of crunching drives that picked out the fielders. On another day he could raced to a rapid fire half century.

I wasn't watching live...so I missed his drives
On highlights he seemed terrible against short stuff.....taking his eyes off the ball....
He's gotta hook or show he can watch the ball & leave....else Fast bowlers have smelt blood and beat him black & blue & get him on short stuff

Yes - this is about sums up what I saw from him yesterday. A lot of wine had been confused by this point FYI! He looked tidy enough, potentially more so than Agarwal with the ball pitched up. Agarwal comes across the ball quite a lot, which may trouble him on pitches with more life, but Vihari definitely had a major issue with the short ball. The Aussies will target that wherever he bats.

50 for Rohit, stands and delivers!

Another good day for India - essentially batted themselves into a position where they shouldn't lose the match, but you'd say it's going to take a monumental bowling effort to win the game on this pitch

I'd normally agree with Ollie, but this version of the Australian batting lineup, I could see it getting messy for them. India have a great chance I reckon. Probably one of the few times the follow on will be enforced if it comes to that

I went today...have to say it never really seemed either team was totally committed to trying to win a Test Match today. India weren't taking a risk , even with three hundred and fifty on the board after tea ; and Australia seemed to have decided to bowl for a run out from about half an hour before lunch...

India have pretty much ensured they are safe ; but it really would need some poor batting from Australia - or a very enterprising second innings and declaration from India - for this to be a fifth day thriller. The odd ball does something. - poor Rahane had no chance - but not many misbehave so careful batting ought to see Australia bat well into Saturday. India don't have a fourth seamer so I guess we will see a good deal of spin from Jadeja and Vihari ; and if things start to happen with the pitch , them maybe...but I'm not holding my breath. The sooner they dig up this centre square the better ...

Aussies stuck to it valiantly : Starc was still bowling high 140 s after tea if the speed gun is to be believed ; but apart from a couple of keep-low balls and a few throw always wickets never looked likely. Dropping two sitters didn't help (poor Lyon !) but even they were rare rash shots. Think sensible batting tomorrow should see Australia safe.

Big question then will be how all the bowlers pull up for the decider on very little break...

Its a test for Australia to see if they can bat for time and with restraint, but I do agree a draw looks likely. Indian seamers are likely to tire, certainly if they have to bowl again without a long break between innings, and if Jadejas still carrying any effects of this injury its a lot to ask for him on a pitch thats shown very little for spin.

India are unlikely to be too generous with a declaration even if they do get the opportunity to be sporting, and wont mind grinding the aussie bowlers a bit more. Both sides will be keen to avoid wearing out their key strike bowlers ahead of the new years test if and when this one looks dead set for a draw. Starc and Cummins have already bowled a lot more than they woudl've wanted despite Marsh carrying a near equal load.

Im sure the Indian supporters will all be unanimous in praising Rohit finding form again

Don't really agree that India are safe. Due to a low scoring rate, they're 100-150 short on a pretty plum pitch. If Australia can match or better India's score, which I expect them to do, then India will be trapped in a horrid Adelaide-2006 scenario, where they can't possibly win and can only draw the game through a solid batting effort. And if the pitch is taking more low bounce by then, it can become very problematic for the tourists.

So I'm taking the 10/1 punt on Australia on the 'draw no bet' market. I do expect a draw on a pretty placid pitch, but let's wait and see.

-The way game stands India cannot lose it from here.....and Aus has a mighty uphill battle to save the test.....70-30 it stands in my view the Indian-win to Draw probabilities

--Pitch is becoming increasingly variable....and flat as Aussies might call it...there is still plenty of bounce by Indian standards.....and a bit of nibble for the "dig-it-in" type of seamer.....which all of Indian seamers are...and Jadeja's type of bowling best suits wickets with uneven-ness and rough.

--I am not a fan of declaring too early in first inning for less than 600...and here I sense the biggest reason for declaration is Kohli not wanting to enforce follow-on ..should opportunity arise.
a) to rest the bowlers
& b) the ENSURE Aus is the team batting out there on D5 in 5th session

--and since he has to bat another 25 to 50 overs...it made sense to declare now....given that Indian defeat is practically out of the equation

--from here 270 overs left in next 3 days... & so Aus has to survive 230 overs in 2 innings...assuming India bats another 40 to 50 overs

So even if Aus bats 140 overs for 300 odd runs.....They will still need to survive 80 to 90 overs on last day....and if pitch keeps becoming increasingly variable....that won't be easy.

--The only way Aus can break India's strangle hold is by :

1) Scoring relatively fast....which means around 2.75 RPO in context of this pitch....
but if they try to be over attacking they could collapse faster

2) OR batting out close to 180 overs in first inning......not impossible but one of the top-4 has to get a Daddy-hundred


--Hope on their part Ind do their math and not try to over attack.....they have to choke Aus's Runrate...and keep them around 2RPO...and if they can do that.....eventually Aus will blink first and then crumble is my read.

A range of good and interesting posts above.

A draw currently looking the most likely outcome for me although I take nothing as read and feel day 3 could play a large part in shaping the actual outcome. Particularly on account of that, I'll be tuning in for the first hour.

It was important for Australia that Finch and Harris saw the session out - credit to them for doing that.

PS Alfie - yep, not the most exciting of days but watching a Test at the ground always beats family washing up!

At the end of day 2, India find themselves in a good position. But I wouldn't say Australia are out of it. The track is still very, very flat. It is slow, and the outfield too is slow. So fast scoring isn't easy on this pitch. But it is even harder to remove a set batsman. The only thing is the uneven bounce and natural variation, and that too is not quite pronounced, though the Australians would somewhere back in their minds be a bit worried about the kind of balls that got Pujara and Rahane. If the likes of Khawaja and S Marsh get in on this one, I don't see them being removed easily. If Finch, M Marsh or even Harris get in, they might just be able to score a bit quicker, and if Australia bat the entire next 2 days, they might be able to take a 60 70 lead, and they would hope that the pitch will suddenly burst into life on day 5.
As for India, they should keep the pressure up, but as KPF said, should not get tempted into overattack and leak too many runs. There is inexperience in the Australian lineup and the scoreboard pressure, factors favouring India, and the best way to make use of the same is by choking the runs. India would hope to bowl Australia out by the first half of day 4 and take a first innings lead in the region of 60 90, set a target above 250, and hope Jadeja will have enough to work with on day 5 to win the match.
Going by the nature of the pitch on first 2 days, it coming into some life seems very difficult. Even if it starts doing all sorts of things on day 5, as Alfie said, the sooner they dig up the stupid thing, the better it is, terrible for test cricket!

Good batting performance from India's top 7. Pujara made his start count with his 2nd ton of the series. Starting with the England series early this year, he has set about correcting that poor overseas record by trusting his strengths even more rather than altering his game drastically at this stage of his career. It may not look pretty, but is mighty effective, and India do have enough stroke players in the lineup that a Pujara is what they really need.
Fighting knock from the skpper, like on day, Kohli wasn't at his best on day too as well and his back seemed to give him some trouble, but he played the situation pretty well in making 82.
Rahane looked good during his 34 and brought more intent into the innings without looking like he was attacking because he didn't trust his defense that was the case at Perth or whenever he encountered Lyon in recent times.
Rohit for once, didn't let his team down, there was some common sense in his approach which is quite unusual in his test knocks, and scored a 50 that pushed the advantage more for his team, though there was one reckless shot that ended up as the easiest sitter dropped in 2018 when he was on 16! But without something like that, Rohit can't be Rohit. Hope this innings wouldn't be his only calling card for the next 2 years, and that this would in fact be the beginning of a late turnaround in his test career.

Rishabh Pant too, showed common sense in his approach, and when he played a rather reckless shot, the Australians helped him out. But Pant is showing signs of slowly growing into his role. He lost the battle to Starc in the end, but if he learns with the experience would be worth it. He smoked one out of MCG to make his point, but again went for another one and skied it....
But Ishant and Bumrah did trouble the Australian openers a couple of times in the mini session, and Kohli would be hoping for something even more sustained from them. If Shami gets his act together, if there is a bit of life that Jadeja can extract from this track, India would be hoping...

Well it appears Australias batting really is that bad. Good start to the day for India.

Back in the office today so only following on text . But it seems two days in the field might have fried the Australian bats ...four down in this session has it all looking a bit grim for the hosts.
Was struck by the sparse crowd yesterday : suspect it might be similar today ? But there might be a lot of Indian fans making their way in over the next day or two if things keep going this way...

Terrible decision to not enforce the follow on, with rain forecast Aus have a chance to draw this now.

I have to admit I think this would have been one occasion where I would've enforced the follow on - limited overs in the legs of your bowlers, fragile Aussie batsman confidence. Not that it should make much difference, India should still win handsomely from here rain or no rain

Yeah I don't get that, almost like it's the done thing now to never enforce the follow on. Were they worried that Australia would make over 300 second time out? Can't see it after that performance. I'll actually find it quite funny if India don't win now because of the rain

I wouldn't expect rain to deprive them of too much play - though I suppose predicting the Melbourne weather can be a bit risky ! I'd heard a few showers but nothing too dramatic was forecast...

Does indeed seem a rarity for a follow on to be enforced these days. But given the hot conditions I'm not surprised Kohli elected to give his bowlers a bit of a breather : won't be too long anyway from the look of the scoreboard ! Shouldn't think the pitch will get any easier to bat on tomorrow.

At work all day so have seen none of it : was it a case of gremlins surfacing after a couple of days slumber - or just some good pace bowling and not very good batting on both sides ?

Whatever : I can't see Australia getting anywhere near 400 or so batting last ; but they could keep the Indian bowlers in the field long enough to impact them for the next match with not much time for rest ...if they could wear down Bumrah it would go a long way to evening things up , especially if Paine can win a toss. You'd think the Aussie pace men will be pretty wrecked too but Cummins seems to have found plenty of life this afternoon just the same...he's had a good match.
Fair to say I bought tickets for the wrong day this year

--"Don't judge a pitch until both sides have batted" adage stood out so well today....

as did win the toss & game is half won

Jadeja delivered 25 overs for 45 runs and 2 wickets...confirming what India missed in Perth.... as Bumrah converted his form and near misses into wickets and Aus was bowled out for 100 short of what I thought was a par second inning score of 250....shutting the door on them completely for earning a draw, by batting out 120 overs also in the process

--It was clear from Ind's declaration yesterday that they were gonna have a short bat in second inning.....to shut out possibility of a chasing even 75 on a D5 pitch & to rest their bowlers

BUT the top-order took the short-bat too casually and they are in a hole that looks ugly but match situation-wise quite safe

They will bat 20-25 more overs tomm....if they last those many and declare with a lead of  400+

--Great opportunity for shami to score 20odd and boost his confidence as a batsma......and Jadeja to earn a n.o with the bat..... before picking a 5-fer that he is quite likely to in s econd inning

--going into Sydney its already clear that Ind will bring second spinner for Ishant......and put Pandya in for either Vihari or Rohit

if Vihari is replaced than Rohit will have to open the batting

Did the pitch fundamentally change or is this just awful batting from both sides?

Either way India would be hard pressed not to win from here, and can thank their first innings batting efforts for that.

Some class bowling, and awful shot selection.

Let's see what Australia can do if they chase a sub-400 score, which looks likely. India haven't quite killed 'em off yet.

The chances of that happening are pretty low Duty ...theres only been 6 successful chases over 350 in the history of test cricket and Aus have only passed 350 twice in any innings this year, and their highest score since Warmer and Smith were banned 362/8. They've not even been declaring, they are just awful at batting.
Granted India have proven theres runs possible, and we've seen teams can produce wild swings in other tests but to come back and more than double their first innings total would be a THING.

Time is on Indias side here, which makes it all the more surprising their bastmen chucked wickets away cheaply. If the 3 remaining guys who can handle a bat can hang about a while they can put the game even further beyond doubt.

Have to praise the Australian bowlers endurance and application though. Theyve shown real resilience after a hefty first innings. The selection of Marsh can be justified in protecting the main 3 seamers from a truely excessive load, but its still good to see the Aussies havent broken down and have come back fired up despite the game being almost dead. For both teams batting time should be a goal in the remaining two days, at some point in the series the loads these frontline seamers are carrying will surely take their toll.

Ah sorry, I meant it was pretty likely that Australia would be set a target of under 400, not that their chances of getting such a score would be likely.

About 90-10 in India's favour at the moment. Hope the rain doesn't come.

Overall, a pretty good day for India. Reckless second innings deprived them of a perfect day though. Unless they collapse for next to nothing tomorrow morning, they should be able to put it beyond Australia. There is Agarwal and Pant the overnight batsmen, and then there is Jadeja. They should be able to push the total to at least 100, and I fell that should be good enough.
Bumrah was exceptional and Jadeja was Jadeja, brilliant with his control and the additional 2 wickets. Shami and Ishant too, bowled to plans. The Indians had plans and they executed it well in the field.
But the Australian batting was poor. Shaun Marsh was done in by a bit of absolute genius by Bumrah, and Shami did for Cummins with a really good one. But the Australian batting showed the inexperience and even lack of topmost quality it has to be said.

I am fine with the no follow-on decision. The 3 seamers have played all the 3 tests and have miles in their legs. They have ben bowling as part of a 4 man unit for all the 3 games. There is not much time between this test and the next. The weather despite the showers expected in the next couple of days, has been rather hot. There otherwise is time in the game, and there is no need to risk a 5th day chase.
But the 2nd innings batting was dreadful to say the least. Downright irresponsible. Its after a long time that the batting unit has started doing their job. When did they post a 400 plus total in an away test the last time? Suddenly, the sense of responsibility was lost, and they were far too casual. Young Agarwal again showed good temperament and holds the hope for his side to put the game well beyond Australia. India are clearly on the driving seat as far as the match is concerned, but the lack of ruthlessness is not a good sign. Losing 5 for 19 after the openers put up 28 in about 13 overs is pathetic.
Vihari will have to quickly work on the short ball problem He's more exposed at the top than he would be in the middle order, but he does seem to have a real issue with the short ball, and unless he addresses it, his test career will have more issues to deal with other than the team management biases.
Pujara can sometimes be vulnerable with the flick shot early in the innings and Cummins exploited it well with a well directed delivery. Kohli should have been more restrained though in playing a similar shot to a similar ball as the side was already 2 down. Rahane got out strangled down the legside, Cummins' luck perhaps changing for the better... Poor shot nevertheless.
Rohit Sharma would be the last person expected to save the side from a collapse of that kind, and he didn't surprise anyone by getting out playing a nothing shot.
This was a dreadful, pathetic collapse, but the first innings batting performance, and the Bumrah led bowling performance that was even more remarkable might still be enough to save from this. But a winning time perhaps would be the best time to try and kick some of the bad habits... Will Big Mouth Shastri have a strong word or 2 with the batsmen? Hope so....

The second innings batting performance probably has more relevance for players futures than it does for the result in this match.
That said I don't think its a great surprise that the least settled member of the squad, the new cap opener, is the only one who has managed to stick around. It does suggest a lack of application and motivation rather than a lack of ability, the complete opposite of what the batting unit showed in the first innings.

msp83 wrote:Overall, a pretty good day for India. Reckless second innings deprived them of a perfect day though. Unless they collapse for next to nothing tomorrow morning, they should be able to put it beyond Australia. .

The game is already beyond Australia msp.........its 70-30 probability
70% that they will fold under 200 and 30% that they will get to at most 250.....and if they do get to 250 there will be some moral points for getting so many runs on what's fast turning to be a very difficult up & down pitch

Very Englandlike scorecard for Australias second innings ( the second cummin?)
Their bowlers have fought to get a vaguely achievable total and restored some respect by making it look like they made a significant effort toward getting there it but really the batsmen just arent up to the job and theyve been comprehensively outplayed in this test.
Australia are a shambles now but with Smith Warner and Bancroft to return they could be a tough test for England come the next ashes if their bowlers stay fit.

Just like in Adelaide...here too India took the foot of the pedal when in sight of victory at 7 or 8 down....
Combination of emotions, taking for granted and tiring of bowlers
they have to go out patently tomm and finish the job

Aus meanwhile live to fight another day and hope for a rain rescue.

In contrast to previous innings....where indian bowlers tried to choke the runs and force error....here they attacked the stumps wth many closeins...thereby conceding too many runs and too fast
Over-aggressive in my view

Jadeja the case in point.....has 3 wickets to show....but was attacking too much...and hence too expensive by his own standards

Frustrating & Nervous that we could not close it out today.

No need to worry I would say. Cummins and Lyon have to start again tomorrow, still against the new ball. Hard enough for two specialist batsmen to do that, let one two tailenders. Rain might hold up the start but I reckon 30 mins of play at most tomorrow and it will be over

VTR wrote:No need to worry I would say. Cummins and Lyon have to start again tomorrow, still against the new ball. Hard enough for two specialist batsmen to do that, let one two tailenders. Rain might hold up the start but I reckon 30 mins of play at most tomorrow and it will be over

Yep, it's pretty natural for supporters of the team on top to be nervous until their side get across the line but I don't think India's followers have got too much to worry about. At this stage and from this distance, it seems that Kohli has been on the money with his declarations and the decision not to enforce the follow on. All that despite a valiant fight from Cummins with bat and ball. Almost as rare these days as hens' teeth but I wonder if we just might see a MotM from the losing side.

That motm would be deserved, for something approaching a one man performance. I'd put my house on it going to an Indian though, and there's a fair chance Bumrah (who deserves it most) will lose out to Pujura as motm selectors seem to value centuries over any bowling performances

This test has basically been Pat Cummins vs India

At least Tim Paine did some funnies behind the stumps tho guys! What a comedian!