Test 4, Day 5: Lunch

And another 5-for for Bumrah. Screengrab

After castling Nathan Lyon with his fourth ball of the morning, Bumrah just stood there and stared down the length of the pitch with a thousand-yard stare. Washington Sundar was the first to run up and hug him, from behind, in recognition of the five-for, but Bumrah just held that pose, that stare.

Who knows? Maybe he was feeling the strain of every ball he bowled, across a total of 10 spells and 24.4 overs. That is almost one-third of the 83.4 overs bowled in the Australian second innings, and it begs the question: If one bowler is going to be asked to bowl 1/3rd the total number of overs, why do you pick five bowlers?

Bumrah’s five-for in Melbourne (and nine for the Test) matches his effort of 5-30 at Perth in the first innings of the first Test. There, he used bowler-friendly conditions brilliantly in one of the all-time great opening spells; here, he defied batting-friendly conditions in a display of sustained brilliance.

Australia 234 all out. The target for India 340, in 92 overs, at around 3.7 runs per over.

Australia would have been the happier team at the change of innings — thanks to their lower order (and Marnus Labuschagne), the home side had gone from the brink, at 91/6 after 36 overs, to 234 in 83.4. (Four overs later, Jaiswal had dropped Labuschagne at gully off Akash Deep, raising the what-if question in the mind).

The lower order added 143 invaluable runs, and absorbed 47.4 overs. 61 of those runs were scored, and 20 of those overs used up, in a phenomenal last wicket stand between Lyon and Boland, to stave off the very real possibility of a certain India win, and reopen the possibility of all three results.

Screengrab of Starc’s grouping to Jaiswal — every one of those deliveries flashed just past the outer edge of the bat

On a pitch that was still good to bat on — no cracks, no problematic divots, no threatening roughs outside the off stump at either end — India needed to set itself little goals, tick off little accomplishments.

I once got to chat with the Proteas legend Barry Richards, who in his brief Test career and longer county cricket stint had showcased a phenomenal appetite for big runs, how he planned his way to monumental scores.

I don’t think in terms of hundreds, Richards said. When I walk out to bat, I tell myself I am an international batsman, I am good enough to score 10 runs against any attack, in any conditions. Once I get those ten runs I wipe the slate clean, and set my sights on the next ten… and the next ten…

It is a template that India could have adopted here — think of little sessions, little gains because thinking ‘340’ can be daunting.

The normally free-stroking Yashaswi Jaiswal was pegged down by an incisive opening spell, with Cummins and Starc testing both his edges and his pads. The first 50 deliveries he faced produced a mere 10 runs; more to the point, particularly against Starc, he was beaten repeatedly outside off as he played at deliveries that swung away from him at pace. To his credit, though, he didn’t get flustered — beaten badly, he settled back into his stance and readied for the next one, sublimating his ego and being willing to look ugly in the interests of survival against a quality attack.

The airy drive that cost Rohit his wicket against Cummins

Rohit Sharma, who walked out to open alongside Jaiswal — and how I wish better sense had prevailed and he had sent KL Rahul out instead — curbed his instincts and concentrated for 39 deliveries. Pat Cummins suckered him, offering a fuller length ball for the drive after relentless keeping the ball back of length. Rohit went for the head-in-air drive and paid the price. See the image above: his toe is pointing towards mid off, his bat face is closed to target the on-side, and he is driving well in front of his eyeline and not beneath it. The edge flew to Mitch Marsh, who held a great reflex catch.

It was the shot of a batsman woefully out of form and desperate for runs. Sharma now has 112 runs in 14 of his last 15 Test innings — surely, he no longer deserves a place in the playing XI even by right of captaincy?

Rahul edges Cummins

Having started his 7th over with a wicket, Cummins ended it with another. KL Rahul must be seeing the Australian captain in his nightmares — in the first innings, Cummins bowled him with an unplayable jaffa; here, the bowler went a bit wide on the crease, angled it in to draw the batsman forward, straightened it off the seam and found the edge to first slip. (India 25/2 in 17 overs).

While celebrating Bumrah, deservedly, spend a moment on Cummins. Badly undercooked in Perth, the Aussie captain has since then been the best bowler for his side in almost every innings. His analysis, when at the end of that double wicket over, was 8-3-8-2 — as fine a sustained spell of new ball bowling as you want to see.

Starc, who in this Test has bowled superbly without a single wicket to show for it in the first innings, struck almost on the stroke of lunch when he took out Virat Kohli. Satish Acharya’s cartoon from a couple of weeks ago is all the commentary you need:

Starc angled one across on a fuller length; Kohli played an expansive drive at a ball that was already on fourth stump and swinging further away and nicked to first slip. The image below tells you all you need to know — note how far away from the body Kohli (5 off 29 balls) is playing:

Screengrab

India 33 for 3 at lunch, still 307 shy of Australia’s total. 65.5 overs left in the day, and the asking rate now close to five runs an over. Jaiswal still standing on a laboured 14 off 83.

A question occurs: Pant was universally slammed for his “irresponsibility”, for playing that falling over scoop in the first innings. Here, Kohli was facing the last over before lunch, with the match in balance and two big wickets already down — and he chose to play a shot that even cartoonists have been calling out as his weakness. Who will ask the obvious question, or raise the subject of “irresponsibility”?

With two sessions left, it’s fair to say India will no longer be looking at hunting the target down. That, coupled with the loss of three big wickets, means Australia can continue to set attacking fields in the second session, hunting the win they need to give themselves a chance to regain the Border Gavaskar Trophy. A draw, though, is still a possibility — albeit more distant than a home team win at this point.