Australia vs India, Second Test: 5 talking points from Day 4

#3 Rahul's and Vijay's Test career hangs by a thread

KL Rahul might be seen warming the bench at MCG

"Another day, another failure", seems the order of the day for Indian openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, who disappointed once again. Prior to the fourth innings, the pitch rollers were employed on the surface to make the track more easy to bat on, and even if that cut down the difficulty levels only by a whisker, Rahul and Vijay should have stayed on for at least an hour, and played down some shots, especially given that one and half days was enough time to chase down 290 runs.

Vijay in 2018 is very different from the Vijay of yore. The batsman has adopted a different technique which has not worked in his favour, yet he refuses to change. The number of balls left outside off-stump has also reduced considerably, and nothing bodes well for the opener right now.

Rahul, on the other hand, owns the dubious distinction of being LBW in nine of his 11 innings as an opener, and for a change this time, he patted down a ball that should have been left and guided it straight to his stumps - a true nonsense of a shot. The openers' dismissals set a huge dent into Team India's hopes, from where they never recovered.