India vs Australia | Talking points from Day 2 at Dharamshala

Brief scores: Australia 300/10 (Smith 111, Wade 57; Kuldeep 4/68) lead India 248/6 (Rahul 60, Pujara 57; Lyon 4/67) by 52 runs.

However, after reaching his half-century, Rahul looked to break the shackles and take on Pat Cummins and though this plan worked initially bearing a few boundaries, Cummins got his man with a short ball that got the toe end of Rahul’s bat and looped up for a simple catch at mid-on. Though Rahul has been getting off to starts, he is yet to convert any of these into a big innings. He always does the hard bit of seeing out the new ball but then a loss of focus causes him to throw away his wicket. At just 24, he has time on his side to make the adjustment and it could serve India well in the foreseeable future.

In the buildup to the ongoing Test, the pacer friendly conditions at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala were said to have favored the Australians more than the Indians. However, during the Indian innings so far, Smith has taken this view to heart as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have bowled a combined total of 39 overs.

The problem in using the pacers is that pitch does not have enough in it for the pacers to exploit. They could have saved their energy for when the new ball was due to get some movement off the seam. Having said that, Cummins has once again lived up to his reputation as Australia’s strike bowler. Cummins removed Rahul just as the Indian opener was looking to turn the screws on Australia and has tested the India batting with short deliveries at serious pace. Hazlewood, on the other hand, has ably supported Cummins and also managed to get Murali Vijay caught behind.

The start of the Indian innings was the exact opposite to what the Australians opted for. While the visitors started the innings with a flurry of runs scoring at over five runs an over, India chose to play the waiting game that had paid huge dividends in the last match in Ranchi. In an attempt to take the loss out of the equation, India worked more on building a long partnership rather than some quick runs on the board.

While it appears to be based on sound logic, India are missing the services of Kohli who is more than capable of doing both things together. Pujara played 151 deliveries for his 57. While some might argue that being a Test match he could be excused for a strike-rate of 37, this pitch isn’t that difficult to bat on for a player who has been in exceptional form. The problem that India now face is that if their lower order collapses, Australia will have the slight advantage of bowling on the last Day of the match, when the pitch could spin like the one in Pune.

Lyon brings Australia back into the game in the final session of the day

Nathan Lyon has undoubtedly been one of Australia’s best bowlers in the series and once again he proved his worth by picking up a host of quick wickets in the final session of Day 2. It started with Lyon dismissing Pujara in the very first over after tea and thereby dealing a body blow to India. Pujara looked rock solid until he was caught by Peter Handscomb at forward short leg after he edged a ball onto his pads.

Not only did Lyon’s fruitful spell keep Steve Smith from taking the second new ball for 7 overs, it also set the stage for the likes of Cummins and Hazlewood to have a go at the Indian tail with a new ball.