India vs Australia | Talking points from Day 1 of the 2nd Test in Bengaluru

India vs Australia | Talking points from Day 1 of the 2nd Test in Bengaluru

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© BCCI

Australia would arguably be the happier of the two teams after they restricted India to a score of 189 - the first time in 40 years that India have failed to cross 200 in three consecutive home innings. KL Rahul fought till the end but it Nathan Lyon stole the day with an eight-wicket haul.

Brief Scores : India 189/10 (KL Rahul 90; Nathan Lyon 8/50) lead Australia 40/0 (Warner 23) by 149 runs. 

1. Kohli’s DRS travails

Virat Kohli's luck with reviews has been terrible so far. He has reviewed 41 decisions as a captain out of which 32 have been unsuccessful. In the one-off match against Bangladesh, Kohli was criticized for not opting for a review once he had crossed the 200-run mark, that would have given him another lifeline. Saha, who was at the non-striker's end, was also in the firing line for not telling Kohli to challenge the decision.

This time, however, Rahul, who stood in Saha’s shoes, did tell Kohli not to go for a review but the Indian Captain made one of the worst challenges as he reviewed the decision after being dismissed for the second consecutive time when not offering a shot. He misjudged a Steve O’Keefe ball that caught him plumb in front of middle stump, but he had to waste a review and watch an evidently wasteful review unfold on the big screen.

2.  The ball is now in India's court

What a performance by Nathan Lyon - even on a pitch that offered good assistance to spinners on a first Day as

 © Cricinfo

he finished with the best figures by any foreign bowler on Indian soil. But it wasn't just the pitch that assisted the Aussie spinner. Lyon's pitch map shows how he had a clear plan and how well he executed it.

You could have as well drawn a circle and asked him to bowl at it.

The pitch appeared to have a lot to offer for the spinners when the Aussie tweakers were out there, but in the few overs that Ashwin bowled today, he was unable to trouble the Aussie openers. The match will now come down to performances in the first session of Day 2 and if India cannot pile on the pressure then, it will be very difficult to salvage anything from this match.

3.  Patience is key on this pitch

One needs to be patient when playing a Test match but India did not get the memo. With wickets falling at regular intervals, KL Rahul was the only constant in the Indian team that was able to neutralize the new ball and the old ball. He faced Mitchell Starc and Lyon with the same conviction and did not allow the Aussies a sniff of his wicket except for a marginal chance at 30. The Bengaluru lad played just under half the overs that the entire Indian team faced today hitting just nine boundaries in his 90-run innings. If it wasn't the constant falling of wickets at the other end, Rahul would have scored a well-deserved 100.

 © Cricinfo

Rahul started his innings brightly scoring his first 15 runs off just 12 balls but once the first wicket went down, he dug deep in an attempt to control the match. He scored his last boundary to take his score to 59 but after that he just shut shop to take India as far as possible.

David Warner and Matthew Renshaw have started the Australian innings, in the same way, taking no risks at all. Australia know that if they can see out a couple of sessions, they might retain the Trophy with just half the series done.

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