Rahul, coming in at No 3, was undone by Cummins and now, it was on the duo to revive the innings. From 51/2, they would go on to take India to 152/3 and did so with sheer discipline. Kohli, as Steve Smith would say later, perhaps looked the best he has this series and it seemed like he was determined to spend time in the middle and not lose his wicket to another outside off delivery.
Ever since Rohit joined the team after the Perth win, he had failed to inspire the team either through his captaincy or innings. When the Aussies began their innings on Friday, instead of introducing the ever-dependable Jasprit Bumrah into the attack, he called up Mohammad Siraj. Overnight batters Steve Smith and Pat Cummins lapped the offer up in glee.
Perhaps for the first time since Perth, Cummins was challenged as a skipper. He had to set up funky fields, with a strong leg side one for Jaiswal and not so much for Kohli. But none of it worked until the unexpected moment of madness. Smith, who had the best view from slips, said: “Looks like Jaiswal called yes, ran, and Virat sent him back. Simple as that. Yeah, I didn’t see much more than that. I was running in, pretty excited. It was a nice wicket.“
The run out was obviously the starting point as India lost the plot in the 18 minutes they had left. Once Kohli got out, Rishabh Pant would take a single off Mitchell Starc, exposing Akash Deep for the rest of the over. Soon enough, Starc would have him as India went from 152/2 to 159/5. “It was a huge last hour for us,” Smith would admit later.
In the end, Pant played out the last over alongside Ravindra Jadeja, taking India to 164/5. In a span of 15 minutes, India lost three wickets and with it the initiative they gained in the afternoon and most part of the evening. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a pattern. Not long ago, India lost four wickets in a span of 13 minutes against New Zealand in Mumbai. That too involved a Kohli run out and Pant was left standing alongside Shubman Gill, who was dropped for the fourth Test against Australia.
India might not lose 0-3 this time, but they will miss out on the chance of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and beating Australia once again. A lot will depend on how Pant, Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy bats on Saturday. “We will still come back and continue to fight tomorrow morning. Energy is very good in the dressing room, we are all positive. There is still three days, and a lot of overs to play. So it will just be about us trying to fight really hard and get things done for the team,” Washington said.
