IND vs AUS 2nd Test: Mitchell Starc’s Fifer Causes Yet Another Shocking Batting Collapse For India

IND vs AUS 2nd Test: The most awaited Pink Ball Test match has had a similar start as the Perth Test match. Australia perfectly executed yet another Indian batting collapse. Rohit Sharma did demote himself and played in the middle order, but this did not help India’s cause. Australian quick Mitchell Starc was too good for the Indian batters as the visitors were bundled out for 180 runs.

Veteran Australian pacer Mitchell Starc landed two timely blows before the break as India squandered a promising start to reach 82 for four at tea on day one of the pink ball Test here on Friday.

Starc removed opener Rahul (37 off 64 balls) and Virat Kohli (7 off 8 balls) in quick succession to turn the tide in Australia’s favour. That was after a 69-run stand between Rahul and Shubman Gill (31 off 51).

It got worse for India when Scott Boland had a well set Gill plumb in front with a full ball on the stumps. In a remarkable of turn events, India lost their last three wickets for 12 runs. Sitting comfortably in the dressing room minutes ago, skipper Rohit Sharma was forced to enter the field and was batting on 1 alongside Rishabh Pant (4 batting) at the break. Rohit decided to drop himself down the order to accommodate Rahul at the top.

It was a rather dramatic start to the proceedings after India opted to bat on a pitch with decent grass cover. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who played a knock to remember in his opening Test in Australia a couple of weeks ago, was out first ball as he missed a full ball from Starc that swung back just enough to be adjudged leg before wicket.

Gill, coming back to the side after recovering from a thumb injury, batted with supreme confidence from the get-go while Rahul changed gears after taking 21 balls to get off the mark. Four out of five fours from Gill’s bat came off Starc who was guilty of bowling a tad too full or short at times. The highlight of Gill’s innings was the off-drive and cover drive off the left-arm pacer.

Rahul, at the other end, would have gone back without scoring had Boland not overstepped on the first ball of his spell. Known for relentlessly attacking the off-stump, Boland induced a faint outside edge from Rahul’s bat. The batter was walking immediately but soon it was adjudged a no ball.