Australia need a miracle to win the first Test with India leading by 218 with 10 wickets in hand in their second innings with three days to play in Perth.
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India made it to 0-172 from 57 overs at stumps on day two with Yashasvi Jaiswal (90) and KL Rahul (62) unbeaten in a superb opening stand that trumped the tourists whole first innings score.
The openers’ unbeaten stand was the highest opening partnership by an Indian opening stand since 1986, and just 21 runs short of the all-time mark of 193.
Jaiswal was the pick of the India batters on day two, smashing seven fours and two sixes, while Rahul fought hard with four fours in his gritty half century.
The pair batted for most of the day to put India in a commanding position and in the box seat for a 1-0 series lead heading into day three in Perth.
Adam Gilchrist praised the Indian openers for putting the tourists in control of the first test.
“All the talking points around the Indian opening partnership of Jaiswal and Rahul after Australia were bowled out,” Gilchrist said.
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“It was an amazing effort from Jaiswal and Rahul. They can go into bed tonight knowing that they did a wonderful job for their country.”
Michael Vaughan believes the pitch settling down played a part, but the Indian batters just batted Australia out of the game on day two.
“There is no question the pitch quietened down, but I just thought the innings of both this pair was full of flamboyancy at the right times,” Vaughan said.
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“But a huge amount of discipline and skill in defence. Knowing what to play in attack. What to defend and what to leave.
“They saw off some really good spells from Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. They played sensibly against Nathan Lyon.
“And they just wore the Australians down. This is the way to play against the Australian attack. You can’t just be ultra aggressive all the time against real quality.
“And particularly Jaiswal, he is a modern player. He goes up and down in the gears. He is a player we are going to be watching for many, many years.
“And at the other end KL Rahul, well he just played the old anchor role with a lot of discipline and a huge amount of experience.”
Gilchrist noted Rahul came from out of the squad to take his opportunity after skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were ruled out of the game.
“Not originally in the squad KL Rahul, so he seized an opportunity here and he knows how to go big and he’s a talented player,” Gilchrist said.
“He will be looking to really cash in tomorrow.”
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Mark Waugh believes Rahul could have played himself back into the team, while Jaiswal is almost undroppable after a dominant display.
“He has been in and out of their Test squad for a number of years KL Rahul,” Waugh said.
“But on his day he is a very classy player. His stats don’t really show how good a player he is, but he’s very experienced and he has got great discipline.
“He is willing to bat time. We saw that in the first innings and we have seen it again today in the second innings with that partnership between Jaiswal and Rahul.
“Sitting at No.2 all-time with 172 unbeaten, so you wouldn’t put it past them to latch on another 100 to that and really put India in a good position.”
Gilchrist wouldn’t write off Australia just yet after just three wickets fell on day two following 17 falling on the opening day.
“India are in the dominant position after day two, who would have thought,” Gilchrist said.
“Day three tomorrow, it is going to be very exciting. We can’t predict what is going to happen.
“This cricket pitch it just seemed to change completely. It was a venomous monster yesterday but relatively placid today.”
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Vaughan warned even if Australia can bowl themselves back into the match, the pitch will make it very difficult to bat last on days four and five.
“Not as much pace and certainly not as much seam, but I think we saw in the last session when the ball got a little bit older and there was a little bit of reverse swing for Australia and the ball kept low,” Vaughan said.
“I don’t think that is a good sign for the Aussies. India dominating the game. You would expect them to bat out day three and then it will all be about how do Australia bat on a wearing pitch against the likes of Bumrah and co.
“And I’m sure there will be a little bit of spin to play, so India in a dominant position.”
Earlier Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana mopped up the Australian tail, despite a fighting partnership from Mitchell Starc (26) and Josh Hazlewood (7) not out.
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Starc top scored for Australia in a horror first innings score of 104 all out.
Bumrah finished with stunning figures of 5 for 30 from 18 overs, including six maidens at an economy rate of 1.67.
Rana was the next best bowler with 3 for 48 from 15.2 overs with three maidens at 3.13 runs per over, including the final two scalps of Nathan Lyon and Starc.
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