There was a chilling moment – given the tragedy that struck cricket ahead of the series – in the day’s first session when Mitchell Johnson’s short-pitched flier crashed into Virat Kohli’s helmet.
The batsman, facing his first delivery, had ducked into the sphere, taking his eyes off the ball.
An anxious-looking Johnson, Chris Rogers, David Warner and Brad Haddin rushed to assist Kohli.
The Indian stand-in captain, after a brief respite, batted on. Then came the fight-back.
When Kohli whipped seamer Mitchell Marsh to the mid-wicket fence in the final session of the day, he had reached a rousing seventh Test century, his second at this venue.
Kohli’s defiant 184-ball 115 in his first Test as captain was the centre-piece of a bold Indian response to Australia 517 for seven declared on the third day of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, here, on Thursday.
With M. Vijay (53), Cheteshwar Pujara (73), Ajinkya Rahane (62) and Rohit Sharma (33 batting) contributing to the team’s cause, India raced to 369 for five at stumps. Crucially, India was able to build partnerships, maintain momentum.
The sun was out and the Indian batsmen displayed aggression, not allowing the Australians to dominate them psychologically.
But then, India might have been in a stronger position had not Kohli top-edged an attempted hook off Johnson, operating with the second new ball, for Ryan Harris to hold a fine catch in the closing stages of the day.
The pitch offered assistance to off-spinner Nathan Lyon – he got the ball to turn and bounce from the rough – and batting on the last day might be a tricky proposition if India concedes a sizable lead.
It was a day when the Indian batsmen disrupted the line of the Australian pacemen. When they bowled around off stump, they were cut, punched and driven for fours. When the seamers attempted to bowl straighter, they were whipped and flicked.
It must, however, be said that Australia was handicapped by paceman Peter Siddle’s indisposition – he was off-colour and later left the ground. Ryan Harris too appeared to be finding his way back from injury.
The Indian batsmen deserve credit for not allowing the occasion or the stage to get the better of them. The young line-up was under pressure after the Australian run feast.
The skipper showed the way. Kohli had issues with body balance in England but here got his feet to the pitch of the ball for strokes on the off-side. His cover-drives off Johnson, from either foot, streaked to the fence.
Kohli punched and cut to find the gaps and brought his dexterous wrists into play for the whips.
Later in the day, when Johnson bounced at him, the pace ace was pulled past the ropes. Kohli had, in the process, left the nightmare of England behind.
The feature of Rahane’s innings was the manner he played off his back-foot to consistently pierce the field between point and cover.
He is light on his feet and is a natural timer of the ball. A back-foot punch off Harris was the peach.
In the morning, Shikhar Dhawan, his bat coming down at an angle, played on to Ryan Harris.
His opening partner Vijay, whose back and across movement well defined, was assured at the crease.
Pleasing sight
He got behind the line of the pacemen and seemed sure of his off-stump. When he drove the seamers straight, or smoked them through covers, or used his feet to loft Lyon, Vijay presented a pleasing sight.
Vijay was looking good for more when Johnson, after pushing the Indian back with a couple of well-directed short-pitched deliveries, consumed him with a fuller one.
Pujara handled the speedsters capably without getting bogged down. His back-swing, straight and measured, was reassuring.
Siddle was whipped past mid-wicket and Johnson was cover-driven. He defended with a broad blade.
The right-hander, however, was tentative against Lyon. The off-spinner, exploiting Johnson’s footmarks, was getting noticeable purchase.
Pujara pushed and prodded at the ball than use his feet to get to the pitch of the flighted deliveries. He eventually played on to a sharp off-spinner from the Aussie; the balled rolled on to the stumps.
Lyon was impressive, pivoting to get more body into his action. He flighted and spun the ball into the right-hander from a teasing just-outside-off-stump line. Revolutions on the ball produced bounce.
It was bounce from a length that nailed a well-set Rahane, who was caught at the crease.
Clarke, recovering from a painful back, fielded for most part of the day.
The match will start at 5 a.m. IST on the final two days too.
G. Viswanath from Mumbai adds
Kulkarni replaces Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Mumbai seamer Dhawal Kulkarni will replace the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the Test series in Australia. Kulkarni who played against Jammu & Kashmir has not been included in the Mumbai team for its next two matches against Railways and Uttar Pradesh.
Scoreboard
Australia 1st innings: 517-7 (decl)
India 1st innings: M Vijay c †Haddin b Johnson 53; S Dhawan b Harris 25; CA Pujara b Lyon 73; V Kohli c Harris b Johnson 115; AM Rahane c Watson b Lyon 62; RG Sharma not out 33; WP Saha† not out 1; Extras (LB-4, W-1, NB-2) 7
Total (5 wickets in 97 overs) 369
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-111, 3-192, 4-293, 5-367.
Bowling: MG Johnson 18-5-90-2, RJ Harris 17-5-49-1, NM Lyon 30-3-103-2, PM Siddle 13-2-62-0, MR Marsh 11-4-29-0, SR Watson 5-1-13-0, SPD Smith 3-0-19-0.
