Australia vs India 2018-19: First Test, Day 3: 5 Talking Points

The visitors had to wait for a while to finally label a full day as their own, in the ongoing Test match at Adelaide. Finally, that day arrived, and in good measure too.

Carrying on from 191/7 in 88 overs, hosts Australia could survive just another 64 balls, within which they lost their remaining wickets of the first innings while adding 44 more runs. India thus obtained a 15-run headstart to their second innings, and openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul proceeded with caution and completed their first 50+ partnership outside Asia.

Though the both of them departed eventually, Pujara and later Kohli who replaced Vijay and Rahul respectively, displayed a classic case of Test batting as India's arguably-best Test batsman and definitely-best-across-formats batsman combined at the crease, generating 71 runs in their partnership for the third wicket.

It looked as if the duo would see through the day without further damage when Kohli succumbed to Lyon when only 23 balls were remaining for stumps on Day 3. India opted to send in Rahane instead of a potential night-watchman, and the Mumbai batsman gave Pujara adequate company until play closed.

Brief scores at the end of Day 3:

India 250, 151/3 (Rahul 44, Pujara 40*, Kohli 34)

lead by 163 runs against

Australia 235 (Head 72, Bumrah 3/47), yet to bat.

Let us now shift our attention to some of the key talking points from Day 3's game.

#1 Indian speedsters reaping deserved rewards versus a deteriorating Aussie pace-bowling

India really needed an innings lead to stay within the game, and if a list is made on who they should be thankful for achieving it, India's speedsters would be on top of the pecking order.

Jasprit Bumrah removed Mitchell Starc in the fourth over of the day to give India an explosive start, but Nathan Lyon who came in as a replacement, stayed put and partnered Head to make 31 runs for the ninth wicket, out of which 24 were his.

Meanwhile, there were a minimum of five occasions when the inside edge was beaten, apart from several other near-misses and close calls. It was nothing but a matter of good fortune that the Aussies survived through all these, but not for long, as Shami came in, sending both Head and Josh Hazlewood off successive deliveries, into the gloves of keeper Pant.

It was a good return for Shami as he had remained wicketless after bowling 19 overs on Day 2.

Overall, 7 of the 10 wickets were picked up the Indian speedsters. Given that they are playing against Australia in their own natural conditions, this is a huge takeaway - which maybe has already decided the game for the visitors - as we may or may not find out in the upcoming days.

Meanwhile, all was not well with the home team's quicks as they returned to bowl against the Indians in their second chance. Murali and Rahul, as will be discussed in a later slide, saw off the initial swing and gathered runs with relative ease, after which Pujara and Kohli too made some impact. In a few cases, Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc were even seen attempting verbal jibes at the Indian batsmen in order to unsettle them, but even those were of no avail.

The Adelaide pitch is showing signs that while batting may look difficult, it won't be a good time for the pacers as well, in the coming days. Any impact that Australia's speedsters could have made, they should have done the most of it by now, which I'm afraid they haven't.

#2 Rahul, Vijay learning from their errors in the first innings

Indian openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay fell for 2 and 11 runs respectively, in the first innings, and within 7 overs, India were 15/2, after which they continued to slump. Had it not been for Pujara with ample help from Rohit, Pant, Ashwin, Ishant and Shami, India would have fallen much earlier than the 250 they scored.

Both Rahul and Vijay, as were the case of a few batsmen that followed, threw their wickets away while attempting to drive Aussie pacers who were constantly pelting balls that moved wide off off-stump - the drives were not there, to begin with, and both of them easily fell into those traps, edging the ball to behind the wickets.

As they were put in to bat for a second time, all this must have crossed their minds. While Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc continued to aim the line outside off stump, inviting the duo to play towards it, we saw a shift of approach by Rahul and Vijay. The both of them stuck to tucking away the balls that came straight at them and blocking the ones that dipped inwards - occasionally offering a shot as well - everything but dealing with the Australian Honeytraps.

They deservedly got their rewards later on, Rahul in particular, as the ball got old enough and lost its swing. Boundaries started coming in, and there was even an over where he played an audacious lofted drive over extra cover that went bang for six, followed by a four towards nearly the same space, just two balls later.

Shortly afterwards, the partnership also completed 50 runs, their first 50-run partnership outside of home conditions.

#3 A classic Test partnership between Pujara and Virat Kohli

Despite staying on for around 20 overs, the Indian openers eventually succumbed to the Aussies' relentless toiling, and that in turn paved the way for Virat Kohli partnering with Cheteshwar Pujara.

The former had failed in the first innings, and was keen to make up for it, as witnessed from his intent right from the outset. It was seen in the way he opted to hang in the middle for a considerable length of time, instead of going for the obvious shots, like he would have in the limited overs' formats.

It is this particular ability from Kohli, to improvise and adapt to various situations that make him one of the finest batsmen of modern times. He took six balls to get off the mark, and twenty-six balls to make his first hit to the fence. By the time he departed after facing 104 balls, his strike rate was bordering on a mere 33 - it has to be one of the slowest innings the man has ever played. Quite possibly, on identifying the need of the hour, and accurately so.

On the other end was Pujara, India's first innings hero, who patted, prodded, nudged and nodded off only the easiest balls and played safe in every other situation - Typical Pujara show.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be the best takeaway for the visitors from Day 3. if India can continue to follow the Pujara-Kohli pattern on Day 4 and still get enough on board, India may as well fancy their chances of a win, with batting going to be tougher in the upcoming days.

The duo made 71 runs from 197 balls, and extended India's lead to 162 runs, before Nathan Lyon got Kohli dismissed - yet again. Nevertheless, the partnership has enabled India to stay ahead by the time play closed on Day 3. Pujara remains unbeaten on 40 runs.

#4 The battle of wits (and grits) against Nathan Lyon

With pace bowling conditions on a decline at the Adelaide Oval, only a spinner could hold the reins on the opposition's batting, and keeping that in mind, Paine introduced Nathan Lyon earlier than he usually does.

As the day progressed, we saw the evolution of Nathan Lyon, from the spinner who is given the ball to relieve an overworked pacer, to the hosts' main attacking bowler.

A rough patch was forming up in a very good section of the pitch, and Lyon exploited it to his best effect, to generate more turn and also extract some uneven bounce. But Vijay and Rahul would have none of it, the former even resorting to some vile sweeps and scoops towards fine-leg, in an attempt to prevent the offie from settling down.

Rahul's main tool against Lyon was to attack the ball outside off-stump, and his approach helped him escape a couple of LBW scares due to the impact being out-of-line with the wickets. When Pujara and Kohli followed, they continued the same trend to keep Lyon working harder and harder for a prize. The duo either padded the balls down offside or played with the spin using downward bats, keeping him at bay.

Lyon finally had his breakthrough, however, in his 21st over of the day. It was a most fitting end to the battle of wits between Australia's ace spinner and the best in the business from India, even though it resulted in Kohli departing with just three overs of play remaining.

Lyon landed the ball in the rough, adding some extra spin to the ball than several of his previous deliveries. The ball gripped the pitch and turned to the batsman's pads, catching a little bit of bat on the way, before rising upwards for Finch to grab the opportunity with both hands literally. It was the sixth time that Kohli fell prey to Lyon, who in turn became the single bowler to dismiss India's best batsman in Tests.

#5 Rahane coming in to face the final few balls of the day

In any context, given that a set batsman has departed with the day's closing looming over, team generally decides to send in a lower-order batsman as night-watchman to see out the last few balls and avoid any contingency with a top-order batsman's chances.

With Virat Kohli dismissed by Nathan Lyon with just 23 balls remaining, it would have been practical for India to let in either Ashwin or someone lower to him, to finish up the game.

But instead, India's No.5 Ajinkya Rahane decided to take up the risk himself and got to the middle, where he batted through 15 balls and scored a run, carrying India through with no damages, alongside Pujara.

Renowned expert Harsha Bhogle also observed that was very welcoming of the Mumbai batsman to play instead of "seeking refuge behind" a nightwatchman. Rahane has a lot to prove on his talent and skill, and he has to make sure that he stays on for much longer on Day 4 and also forge a good partnership with Pujara if he has to stand his own case and Team India's as well, in the match.