07 March,2017 08:30 AM IST | | Satish Viswanathan
The two men for a crisis, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, joining hands at 120 for four with their team barely 33 runs ahead, bat out of their skin to take the match into the fourth day and who knows perhaps a fifth too
Don't go anywhere, the second Test is turning out to be a real classic with both teams giving it everything with bat and ball. If in Pune the Test was over in less than three days, here there is no clear winner at the end of the third day. One or two good sessions for the Indians today and the Test could well swing their way, but should the Australians make early inroads, Day Four may easily be the final day too.
Key partnerships
It didn't look to be that way at the end of Day Two when the Australians were clearly ahead. Two key partnerships turned it around for the Indians. First Virat Kohli, for whom runs continue to be difficult to come by in this series, finally got his spin twins R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to bowl in tandem. And in a matter of a few overs the duo cleaned up the remaining four Australian wickets and restricted their lead to 87.
Then, the two men for a crisis, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, joining hands at 120 for four with their team barely 33 runs ahead, batted out of their skin to take the match into the fourth day and who knows perhaps a fifth too.
Pujara (79 not out) said on Sunday that the batting group had got together and discussed ways and means of approaching the second innings. Yesterday he walked the talk.
Repeat offender
Opener KL Rahul - before he once again threw his wicket away - showed the way initially with another accomplished half-century, but thereafter it was Pujara and his invaluable unbroken 93-run fifth wicket association with Rahane that took centerstage.
The same Nathan Lyon, who had devoured the Indians with a eigh-wicket haul in the first essay, was completely denied on the day despite sending down as many as 27 overs.
The best part was that both batsmen took different approaches to make it more difficult for the offie. If Pujara picked the length early and came down the wicket to negate any chances of the ball rearing off the rough, Rahane (40 not out) used the sweep shot to great effect.
Now it's a question of building on what they should look as a mere foundation. Ahead by 126, a minimum of 75 more runs should be the first target, while something in the region of 150 will shift the focus from the Saurashtra-Mumbai batting pair to the Saurashtra-Tamil Nadu bowling pair.
