India register their lowest score in Test history; Australia take 1-0 lead

There are some days you wish to erase from your memory, and then there is Day 3 of the First Test between India and Australia. 9:30 A.M. on a winter Saturday morning in India would have called for a hot morning bevy, some comfy blankets, and Test Cricket with hopefully India batting out the entire day, putting the Aussies to the sword. Well, 90 minutes was all the remaining 9 batsmen could last.

Right from the first ball when a Mitchell Starc inswinger got Mayank Agarwal tentatively prodding forward, just about taking the inside edge onto his pads, followed by an attempt at bravado with a full-fledged drive completely missed, the Aussies were at it. Bumrah’s batting may have brought a few cheers the previous evening, but Pat Cummins made sure the night watchman did not nag. 

The pair of Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara had been instrumental in blunting out the new ball on Day 1. But, on the day, the Cummins-Hazlewood bowling partnership was way too good for the duo. It usually takes a peach to dismiss Pujara early, and Hazlewood certainly produced one which accounted for the 2018-19 Aussie tormentor-in-chief. When Mayank Agarwal fell 5 balls later for 9, not many would have imagined that he would be the top-scorer for India in the second innings.

The vice-captain fell next, followed by the prized scalp of the Skipper. The possibility of India registering their lowest-ever Test score had now begun to creep in. By 11 in the morning, that possibility had become a reality. To make matters worse, Mohammed Shami retired hurt and would not come out to bowl in the second innings after unsuccessful attempts at numbing his pain. Hazlewood and Cummins shared all the 9 wickets to fall between them, and 36 was all India could muster.

To make a target of 90 seem challenging, India would have needed a few early wickets. Once Wade and Burns batted out the new ball, and India practically having only 2 seamers, the game was all but over. A resounding 8-wicket come-from-behind win has given Australia the lead in the 4-match series. Now beckons Melbourne Cricket Ground on boxing day, sans Captain Virat Kohli.