Angels and demons were both present on the 3rd day of the first test match between India and Australia. There was the intervention from the heavens this time not in the form of rain but good form from the part of the Indian batting as there were 3 half centuries ( Vijay 53 , Rahane 62, Pujara 73) and one century from the captain’s blade. Virat Kohli(115) thus becoming the only third man in the history of Indian cricket to have scored a century on “test captainship debut” after Gavaskar and Hazare.
The demons were there to be seen too as Virat Kohli got hit by a Johnson bouncer on his head to the first ball he faced. One could sense that cricket as a game was yet to move on from the Hughes tragedy as the Aussies surrounded Kohli with anxious inquiries about his wellbeing. The bowler looked even more taken aback as he did not bowl a bouncer to his potential till the dying moments of the day, when Kohli took on Johnson’s bouncer holding out to Ryan Harris at deep fine leg.
The Australians had declared overnight and the Indian openers were to face a fresh and well rested Mitchell Johnson first thing in the morning. Dhawan(25) looked positive as he struck three boundaries in one Johnson over but he soon fell to Harris as he dragged one on to his stumps. Vijay was the next to go as he fell trap to a few short deliveries only to edge one to the keeper with weight on his back foot and playing one wide outside the off stump.
Pujara came in next and he looked to play his shots from the onset. The Adelaide wicket true to its reputation was changing as the day progressed and Nathan Lyon was the beneficiary of this phenomenon. Pujara was unfortunate to be dismissed off Lyon when the ball rolled on to the stumps after an unsatisfactory defensive shot. Rahane was the next man in and he played his way to a strokeful half century but fell prey to an almost unplayable Lyon delivery off the rough, gloving an easy catch to Watson at slip.
Rohit Sharma(33*) was the next man in and he looked in good touch as he drove and pulled with utter disdain. The players were going through the motions when suddenly after Kohli’s dismissal Wriddhiman Saha looked to be at the receiving end of Johnson’s pace. He managed to see off the challenge and live to fight another day. More precisely the next day.
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