Watson asserts himself as captain

In the second over of Indias innings,Cheteshwar Pujara punched James Pattinson through covers for four.

In the second over of Indias innings,Cheteshwar Pujara punched James Pattinson through covers for four. Immediately,Shane Watson removed one slip and put in a deep point. At that moment he had a fine leg and a deep square leg for both Indian openers. Murali Vijay,who had already edged a couple of deliveries through the slip cordon off Mitchell Johnson,now nicked one to where second slip would have been. Watson,the lone slip fielder,was however stationed at one-and-a-half slip and couldnt claim the catch.

Till the time Vijay and Pujara were at the crease,it appeared as if Watson was being a touch defensive with his spread field. The Australian skipper had his reasons though. In a match where even 50 runs could prove crucial,there was no point in being ultra aggressive,only to leak runs. Also,Vijay and Pujara have been in good form this series and are capable of being attacking. In being defensive when things didnt work for his bowlers,and switching to being attacking when they were beginning to dominate,Watson enjoyed a good day in the office.

This was evident when Nathan Lyon got the ball. The off-spinner operated with a deep midwicket,long-on and a deep square leg for Pujara and Vijay. Though the batsmen knocked him for singles to these fielders,it helped Lyon settle down without having to worry about going for boundaries. Despite the boundary riders,there were catchers too in the in-out field. When Pujara missed the line of a ball that did not turn as much as he expected,India lost their first wicket at 108 and Watson had his opening.

Lyon had his rhythm and now there were five fielders around Virat Kohli,the new batsman. The one-down misjudged the line to be trapped in front and the off-spinner ought to have had Sachin Tendulkar out LBW two overs later,only for the umpire to turn down a close call. However,the captain kept him going for 22 overs in a row in the second and third sessions,as pacers Johnson,Siddle and Pattinson used the short ball to slow the run flow. It was one such that eventually dismissed Vijay and later in the day,Dhoni. Watson had moved himself to a catching position on the leg side and his Indian counterpart pulled Pattinson straight into his hands.

Debutant Rahane was hit on the helmet early by a Siddle snorter and at the other end had several catchers in his ear when Lyon bowled. He was out gloving the spinner to leg slip while Tendulkar walked back after being caught in front. Lyon completed a deserved five-for when he did Ravichandran Ashwin in with a flatter delivery. With Australia ending the day only four runs behind with India eight down,Watson too could claim some of the credit.