That is not how things went down on the field. Konstas frustrated the Indians with his batting display. Virat Kohli even had a run in with the youngster, bumping his shoulder in between overs. Kohli was later fined by the ICC for that incident. Without uttering a word, the teenager had got under the skin of Kohli and by extension, India. That was visible as the bowlers were struggling with their lengths. Khawaja was the beneficiary, especially against Siraj. Bumrah kept beating the left-hander and Akash Deep was unlucky but Sharma’s struggles with sticking to a plan and executing it as captain continued.
Even after Konstas got out, Khawaja and Labuschagne were allowed to take easy singles with no drop in the run rate. They were not in a hurry and played multiple maidens, but it did not look like they were going to get out any time soon. Khawaja got to his fifty and looked set for a long day on the field. At the brink of lunch, a momentary lapse in concentration from the left-hander meant he played a pull — a shot Khawaja would nail in his sleep — against a ball that stopped on him and hit it straight to KL Rahul. Such was the dismissal that even Bumrah could not believe it. Similarly, Labuschagne, too, suffered a soft dismissal while trying to take on Washington.
It was only Travis Head, who left a ball and got bowled by Bumrah, for whom India had a plan and executed it perfectly. After being quiet for two sessions, the Indian diaspora that had filled the MCG finally found their voice. From thereon till the end of play, they got behind every ball India bowled, cheering on Akash Deep, who did induce few plays and misses. But such was the other bowlers’ line and lengths that Alex Carey and Steve Smith — the last of the top four who scored fifties — added 53 runs from just 80 balls. Akash Deep finally got his reward in Carey as Australia finished the day on 311/6.
At the start of the day, where all roads in Melbourne led to the G, fans swarmed the stands in their hopes to see the visitors dominate the proceedings. They were treated with one of the most audacious Test debuts in modern cricket history. For India, they would want to take confidence from the late wickets, but more importantly, Sharma and Co would want to come back with better plans and remove Smith and the rest sooner.
