Rohit Sharma "opted to rest" in the team's interest but the same old script unfolded on a new day for Indian batters as they surrendered meekly for a paltry 185 in the face of some hostile seam bowling from Australia on the opening day of the fifth and final Test. (Full BGT Coverage | More Cricket News)
Virat Kohli (17 off 69 balls), whose form and technical weaknesses are also under th𒆙e scanner, was for the seventh time dismissed in the corridor of uncertaint🧜y in the tour, a problem that seems incurable at the moment.
At stumps, Australia were 9 for 1 with stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah sending the woefully out-of-form Usman Khawaja (2) back in the hut.
Teenage sensation Sam Konstas was unbeaten at 7 after hit🌠ting Bumrah 💛for a first-ball four. The 19-year-old also had an animated exchange with the Indian star.
Bumrah opted to bat under overcast conditions an🐻d the ultra-defensive approach by Indian batters only compounded their problems with🃏 Scott Boland's (20-8-31-4) immaculate length and tremendous discipline leaving them in a disarray.
Mitchell Starc (18-5-49-3) and Pat Cummins (15.2-4-37-2) were 🐎equally relentless giving the Indians no room for release shots.
Rishabh Pant top-scored for the visitors wi☂th a 98-ball 40, going against his grain to battle it out, taking painful blows to his body in the process.
If Rohit's decision to "rest" was a forward thinking move, the persistence with Kohli is𒈔 proving to be det🍌rimental and the celebrated batter might just have one more Test innings left to save his place in the traditional format.
"I wouldn't say it's a par s🌼core but still a competitive score," said Pant, admitting that the pitch is not easy to ba♒t on.
If one takes away the second inning🐎s hundred at Perth out of his last 20 T🤡est innings, Kohli has managed an average of 17.57.
He co﷽uld have been out off Boland's first ♒delivery but tried to battle hard.
However, it has always been that ♈one moment in which his hands and the willow magnetically follow a delivery in the corridor of uncertainty.
Pant curbs natural instincts for a session
Having copped criticism from all qua♛rters for his bizarre 🧸shot selection in Melbourne, Pant, for a change, copped body blows, trying to curb his natural game.
The big-hitter in him came out o♐nly on a couple of occasions with one of them fetching him a straight six off B🐻eau Webster.
Pant put his head down and endured nasty blows on his bicep, helmet and twice in the sensitive abdominal area. He and the dogged Ravindra Jadeja (26 off 95 balls) defended dourly as they added 48 off 151 deliveries for the fifth wic✃ket.
Only 50 runꦅs were scored in the second session and trying not to be adventurous proved counter-productive with most batters retreating in a shell letting Boland and company dictate the terms of play.
Finally, Pant's patience ran🔯 out and one pull shot too many became his undoing.
India realised they haven't ꧟scored enough runs and lost a lot of wickets. The defensive tactic in the second seﷺssion when the ball got old ended up costing them dearly.
There♔ wasn't much swing on offer despite cloudy conditions but a 🌳decent grass cover ensured that Boland's back-of-length deliveries proved enough.
As far as Pant was concerned, the "honest conversations" with head coach Gautam Gambhir seemed to have worke𝕴ܫd with the southpaw respecting the game situation for most part.
If Pant was disciplined, Shubman Gill's judgement on the last delivery before lunch did cause trouble f🦂or India.
Gill (20 off 64 balls) did all the hard work for close to couple of hours before stepping out to Nathan Ly꧅on on the last ball of the session only to be caught at first slip.
