India vs Australia 3rd Test Day 3 Live Score: Bowlers look to wrap AUS innings
India vs Australia 3rd Test Day 3 Live Score: After a quiet first day which was rained out in almost its entirety, the Gabba Test match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy came alive on the second day. Australia ended day two on 405/7, placing themselves in a strong position at one of their favourite grounds at home, and striking plenty of concern through the Indian camp with their effort with a terrific performance in Brisbane.…Read More
Australia enter day three with the idea of quickly adding on more runs to their total. Alex Carey occupies the crease batting at 45*, scoring at almost run-a-ball and looking set to add more inconvenient runs for India to deal with. With Mitchell Starc also at the crease and equally capable of adding runs at a quick pace if he isn’t dismissed early, India will be aware of the danger if they don’t quickly get rid of one of the pair.
One thing is for certain: the game won’t move slowly in the first session, and that could be the difference between Australia batting India out of the game with another 60 or 70 runs. On the other hand, a couple of quick wickets on the third morning will not only give India fairly manageable conditions to bat against the new ball. India have already spent plenty of time in the field, and their batters will want a chance to finally get in and make a difference with the bat in hand and similarly exhaust the Australian fielders before that Gabba track becomes trickier to bat on.
India will want to focus on wrapping up Australia’s tail, but a large part of the focus overnight in Brisbane will also be to ensure the Indian batting doesn’t collapse and fail to have an impact like they did at the Adelaide Oval. With Rohit Sharma set to open the batting once again, India will want to bat both safely preserving their wicket and also staying on top of Australia and putting the pressure right back on Australia’s bowling quartet. The Aussie bowling attack has thoroughly dominated India’s batting in three of the four innings so far, but on a relatively placid track that hasn’t shown too many signs of deterioration so far, Sharma’s men will know that this is the best opportunity they will have to try and go toe-to-toe with the kind of total Australia are putting up.
A lot will be expected, especially from the senior players in this team. Rohit has come under plenty of criticism for his passive captaincy and struggles with the bat in hand, and is in more need of runs than anybody else competing in this Test match. Another failure will put India in a bad position, and plenty of critics of Rohit will use it as an opportunity to further grill him. With a trademark innings at the Gabba — or at least a good platform his teammates could use — Rohit could get the monkey off his back and put India in a competitive position.
A lot will also be expected from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill. India’s two leading batters in Tests this year despite their youth, the team’s fans will want to see if the young superstars have the ability to enter in a crisis and pull the team up by its bootstraps, in the way that greats of the past have shown themselves capable of doing. Both have looked in solid touch in this series, clearly capable of going head to head with the Aussie bowling, but Jaiswal is struggling with inconsistency and Gill has not been able to translate the starts he has gotten off to.
Lower down the order, it’s a similar story for Rishabh Pant, who will have the positive memories of his heroics at the Gabba to back him up. He’s had a quiet few months since his roaring comeback to international cricket, though, and will want another big score to remind Australia and their fans of the threat he can possess in the middle order in terms of bulk runs at a quick rate, similar to India’s own answer to Travis Head.
Day three in Brisbane could decide which way the match swings, with it all depending on how India’s batting performs and if they can show up to the party in a crucial game. A lot to prove at the Gabba.