India vs Australia Highlights, 1st Test Day 2: IND 172/0 at Stumps vs AUS, lead by 218 runs in Perth

It is India's day and there is no doubt about it. And it is amazing how contrary things have been today compared to yesterday where we saw 17 wickets and today just three wickets fell. Credit must go to Jaiswal and Rahul who batted exceptionally well. They were solid right from the word go and maintained the right tempo for the innings. As per Australia, things are looking pretty grim. Cummins has plenty of work to do tomorrow morning both as a bowler, as captain to cheer up his team, and as a leader to make sure that the shoulders don't drop. Do join us tomorrow at 6:00 AM we will be right back with all the coverage. 

The pitch has played very well here today and it might continue to do so. David Warner in the commentary reckoned that we might start seeing cracks in the evening tomorrow, as it is the hottest day predicted for this Test match. Once that crack starts opening whenever the ball will start pitching in that area it would either bounce high or keep low. This is where Australia would be kicking themselves. If they had applied themselves last evening losing 3-4 wickets today they could have capitalized. A 100-120 run lead would have pushed India back in the game. However, they batted poorly and Bumrah bowled very well it is what it is.

Jaiswal is closing in on a ton here. It has been a steady innings from him. Even after getting to his 50, he did not do anything knee-jerk. He kept his calm and cool played some lovely shots ran hard between the wickets and he is almost there. Many Australians wanted to see him and what he could do and here he is delivering for India at the top of the order. It is a statement innings from the youngster so far. There might have been a few doubhts on how he would go in these conditions it seems like the answers now are pretty much clear. He has the technique and temperament to deliver in these conditions as well.

Well, we might stay for longer in this Test match than we thought. India was bowled out for 150 in the first innings and now they have not lost a wicket for 150 runs reiterating the fact conditions are king in Test match cricket and nothing supersedes them and no matter how bigger your CV as player is have to respect them. It has happened with batters in the first innings and the evidence thus far is showing that bowlers are going to experience it in the second innings. However, we have also seen in the first innings that batters who applied themselves could do something and second innings Hazlewood bowled well and looked threatening. 

It is an important spell to Pat Cummins in the context of the Test match. He has not been great as both leader and bowler and the situation demands to take the game by the scruff of its neck similar to the way Bumrah did for India. The bowling just lacks that oomph and cutting edge from Cummins at the moment. Discipline is his key strength however, even that has been a little iffy. From time to time he has slipped in that boundary ball which has eased off the pressure. We are about 40 minutes to go. One wicket here might put lot of pressure on the next batter.

Things have come to a standstill here. Though India is in a good position at this point things are not going anywhere. Neither are the runs coming nor there is something that Australia is trying to do to pick a wicket. It has been a game of patience. This is where Test cricket in modern times has changed and we might see some accelerating from Jaiswal soon. The wicket won't be this flat forever. The Indian batters need to also capitalise on the good work they did. The took the shine off the ball and it was the right time to score and get a few quick runs away instead of just continuing with the same approach. As we update Rahul scores 50.

India has now passed through the tight passage of play as well. Now it will be interesting to see what tactics Australia will come up with. Nathan Lyon has been taken out of the attack and Mitchell Marsh has been brought in for a spell. This innings will test Australian bowling resources in the absence of Cameron Green. Especially given they are behind the game. Yes, they might change the personnel in the future by bringing in Boland but Green bowling at 135 regularly hitting the deck hard and extracting that bounce would have provided a different threatening option to this attack.

Indian openers continue to dig in here in the middle. Both Jaiswal and Rahul are continuing to toil hard in the middle. While the scoring rate has come down a bit India still has 10 wickets intact and the ball is getting older and Australians are getting tired and that is what the right tactic would be. Now the next challenge for India is to score runs and deliver a solid knock-out punch as well post-water break. The wicket is flat hard work is done ball is old and the bowlers are in their second and third spells. It might be not a bad time for Jaiswal to press the accelerator button for a bit and push Australia completely out of it. 

It will be interesting to see how India will operate with the ball in the second innings. There is one constant question that will be hanging around India throughout the tour what comes after Bumrah? Though Siraj and Rana bowled well in the first innings they had plenty of help from the wicket. In the second innings, Bumrah has to use Washington Sundar who has been picked over both R Ashwin and R Jadeja, that is when the call from the management to pick him will be open for criticism or applause. Even Nitish Kumar who bowled just three overs in the first innings will have plenty of work to do.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has played well here. Yes, he is also among the modern lot of players who love to take the game on but one thing that makes the left-hander special is his awareness to know when to absorb the pressure and today he has done exactly right. It might not be looking pretty or fancy on the highlight package but it is something which will give him a lot of satisfaction to Jaiswal and Indian fans. His time too will come to play in T20 mode once the ball loses a bit of shine and Australian bowlers get tired until then it is all about trusting your defences to run hard between the wickets and pick and choose moments to score boundaries. 

For all the qualms on Cummins' captaincy, Hazlewood has been superb in the Test match whenever he has been thrown in the ball, he has bowled that lovely channel throughout the Test match. He was the best bowler for Australia in the first innings and in this innings too it is looking like he is the only one who can pick up a wicket. Indian batters too and rightly so are giving him the respect which he deserves. All he needs is another bowler who can keep things tight from the other end as well which will start to build pressure on India. As we update Yashasvi Jaiswal gets to 50.

Josh Hazlewood has swapped ends here replacing Pat Cummins. Nathan Lyon too has been brought into the attack from the other end as well. Things are going out at a steady pace here. India is motoring along nicely and they are happy to get their singles away and wait for the odd ball to hit for a boundary meanwhile Pat Cummins is just hoping that a mistake will come. Australia needs to force something and make it happen here. But most importantly they have to stop giving those singles. The need to keep a batter at one end and keep bowling him constantly so that the batter can plan a dismissal at the moment it is all very reactive. 

While Starc and Hazlewood have bowled reasonably well Pat Cummins did struggle with his discipline in the first innings and even today he is still not up to it. It is the same debate that happens with Indian cricket. Apparently, while Hazlewood and Starc have opted to play Shield cricket (Australian domestic cricket) Cummins decided he will take a rest and the difference has been there to be seen. Hazlewood and Starc kept bowling thunderbolts while Cummins looked rusty. He might take this entire game into some sort of Test match rhythm and hopefully, he will be right on the mark from ball one in Adelaide. 

Rahul is defending nicely here. The sound that the bat is making after it meets the ball is lovely. He is looking good for a big score here. As always things have not been great for Rahul in the last few months. He has been in and out of the side and the team's poor performances have resulted in him getting dropped for no rhyme or reason. it is good to see him come here and start well. What happens when Rohit comes is a different issue altogether but for this Test match, Rahul needs plenty of applause and credit for all the good work he has done. 

Hazlewood and Cummins have started the session here and it is a good option to start with. There is not much of a moment on offer hence a bit of disciplined bowling and keeping things tight for a bit might create an error somewhere however, it needs to be a long spell with patience and consistent testing of the batters. We have seen a tendency of Cummins in the first innings and even today morning just to use his bowlers for short bursts and keep them fresh however, this wicket seems like it requires a different tactic. Even Lyon when he comes in needs to bowl a long tight spell later in the day. 

We are back for the final session and it will need a strong Australian bowling performance to stay in the game. If India can add another 80-90 runs with about losing 2-3 wickets they will be way ahead on this contest. 

India, led by Virat Kohli, started the second day of the test match with a determined approach. They quickly dismissed Australia's top order, including Alex Carey. However, Mitchell Starc's resilient innings of 26 runs helped Australia to a total of 104 runs, giving them a 46-run lead.

The text highlights the impact of the Kookaburra ball on the match. Once the ball softens, batting becomes easier, but surviving the initial, challenging phase with the new ball is crucial for any team. (Read more from Sriram Veera)

That is India's session. After winning a session last evening and sharing the morning session they have dominated this one. If they have one more good session in the evening it will be fair to say it will be India's game and it will take something extraordinary from Australia to get back into it. Both Jaiswal and Rahul batted splendidly in that period they played some lovely shots and took nice singles by pushing the ball with soft hands. On the other hand, it is hard to understand the tactics employed by Pat Cummins it seems like he is worried about things which he should this early in the series. 

We are five minutes away from Tea break and Cummins has decided that he will bring in Labuschange for an over. He has remodelled his bowling and it will be interesting to see if he can create any trouble for the Indian batters in this one-over spell.

Nathan Lyon is the key component of the Australian attack. The entire attack is built around him bowling tight and holding an end up and given the way this wicket has played so far Australia might have to bowl quite a few overs in this innings hence it becomes important that Lyon holds an end up and bowls economically so that Cummins can rotate his seam-men from the other end. In the first innings, it was Hazlewood who looked the best it might not be a bad ploy for Cummins to bring back Hazlewood for a couple of over just before the Tea break to see if he can break this partnership.

There are about 30 minutes to go for a Tea break and Cummins has decided enough is enough and has brought in Nathan Lyon into the attack. However, it is a sort of gamble as it might happen that Jaiswal just goes after the off-spinner and takes this game further away. One strange thing though is how reluctant Cummins has been in this game to use his bowlers in long spells. May be he is worried about the lack of another seam bowling option in Green and a lot of Test matches ahead and bowling to do but at this moment it seems like he is doing it a bit too much now. He needs to try and keep the pressure for too long at the moment shorter spells don't seem to settle bowlers in rhythm.

Australia needs a wicket here this partnership has gone for way too long for their liking and most importantly both players are looking very comfortable. Seems like Cummins is just waiting for something to happen instead of making things happen. One cardinal sin Australia is committing is letting the batters get to the other end with ease which should not happen. As long as there is tap and run there will be no pressure on the batters and poor deliveries will come inevitably and that is what is happening at the moment first they have to cut down those singles and pile up a few maidens and get some control back in this innings at this point it is all too easy.

The opening partnership has gone past 50 now and this is what the doctor ordered for India after taking the first-innings lead. Both the batters respected the good deliveries and at the same time made sure when a bad ball was bowled, it was sent for a boundary or a couple where squeezed out of it. This is a good proper Test match batting something which was needed against New Zealand and did not happen. However, the side seems to have learnt their lesson now and are batting the situation rather than adhering to one approach which has cost them big time in the last series. 

This has been India's hour so far. The wicket has significantly flattened out and as expected this is the best session to bat in this Test match and India needs to capitalize on it. Rahul and Jaiswal have started on the right note here they are applying caution with aggression nicely and this is what India needs. If they can get to around the 250-300 mark they will have this game in their bag. However, for that to happen they need one of the top three to score a solid 80 and hold this innings together. As we update Mitchell Marsh has come into the attack.

KL Rahul has once again looked good so far. Anyone who has seen his batting in England when India where there last time would not doubt his ability to face the new ball however, temperament has been the question always hanging around his neck. However, for this game, he looked up to it. In the first innings he was the one batter who looked decent against the new ball and again today he looking good. Playing within himself and in-line with the ball leaving anything on the fourth stump and asking the bowlers to come to him. This is what India needs not only for this game but for the series. However, it will be interesting to see if Rahul would have any role in the side once Rohit comes back.

The first box ticked for India. They have not lost a wicket in the first 10 overs here and most importantly the pitch has not done anything extravagant either. If they can manage to keep doing the same for another 30 minutes or so that will concern Cummins. At this point, Australia seems to be more worried about keeping things tight and waiting for mistakes to come instead of forcing the error which also results in too many runs flowing. This was the classic error Rohit Sharma kept making in the New Zealand series where the hosts lost 3-0 just wait and let mistakes come and those mistakes never came.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is looking a lot more composed in this innings. In the first innings, he looked like a cat on a hot tin roof. In this inning the foot moments have been lot more subtle and the shot selection has been a lot more precise it also has to do with Australian fast bowlers being not that accurate as well. Nevertheless he seems lot more comfortable today and he needs to capitalize on it. India has an opportunity to bat out Australia completely in this innings and in the past we have seen how dangerous Jaiswal can be in situations like this with his quick-fire big 100s.

This is a good start for India. They are punishing the poor ball getting the singles away as well and maintaining healthy strike-rotation. This is a little strange from Australia given their game situation letting these easy singles get away. The lead has steadily grown to 67 which is what Australia's overnight score was and they lost seven wickets by that point. Not to say it will happen again but just a perspective on how much behind hosts are in this game. They need a magic burst from somewhere where the bowler comes in and picks up 5-6 wickets in a spell.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has got a boundary away which is a good thing as he was looking a bit tentative as he bagged a duck in the first innings. Australian bowlers too have started a bit Waverly here which is a strange thing. Both Starc and Hazlewood have been top-notch in the morning. However, more than Jaiswal the Australian bowlers would want to get KL Rahul out as the batter has the ability to hold an end up as he has shown many times before especially in overseas Tests where he displayed solid temperament and application.

Mitchell Starc has taken the new ball and was right on the money right from ball one. He started a little on the shorter side. Yes, he did pitch one up to Jaiswal off the first ball which the batter drove but did not get much out of that beautiful stroke. There seems to be not as much of a lateral moment as we saw yesterday. With the sun beating down these might be the best conditions to bat on in the entire Test match. If India can squeeze out 80 runs for about 2-3 wickets it will ensure that unless a dramatic collapse happens the game is almost in the bag for India.

We are back for the noon session of Day 2. And both Jaiswal and KL Rahul need to bat well here. Even if they fail to score runs if they can take the sine of the ball which Rahul and Rohit did successfully in the 2021 series in England it will go a long way for India.

The first round to Australia and Hazlewood. Kohli has revealed his card: stand outside the crease a touch, and try to get forward as much as possible and negotiate the ball from there. It hasn’t worked in Perth in the first innings. What will the second round bring in? (READ MORE)

Harshit Rana played ahead of Akash Dep but took the big wicket of Travis Head; Nitish Reddy looked composed and sure-footed during his 41 off 59 deliveries. (READ MORE)

KL Rahul was fuming after an overturned decision by the TV umpire in the first session of the first Test against Australia. He was given out caught behind appeal off the bowling of Mitchell Starc was initially given not out by on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough. After unsuccessfully requesting additional angles, TV umpire Richard Illingworth overturned the on-field call, stunning Rahul. (READ MORE)

Harshit Rana gets the final wicket. Mitchell Starc tried to whack one through square-leg however got the leading edge with Pant taking a simple catch. It took a bit longer but India is finally there. We are heading for a lunch break and India will come back at the other end with bat. Before that congratulations to Jasprit Bumrah who bowled a fabulous spell last evening to pull India back into the game. Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj too played the side role well in this innings and will be expected to deliver the same through the series. We will be right back after lunch.

James Brayshaw: "The stat was given to us about the new Kookaburra ball. They changed it about four years ago, put the extra lacquer on it and improved the stitching. And I think the ball's been much improved since then.

"But the batting averages in this country have dropped by 10 across the board since then, in the four years. So add that to some more souped up pitches and batting's become a lot more difficult."

Greg Blewett: "I think it was 2016 to 2020, the Australian batting average was 44. And then since the change of the Kookaburra ball, the sort of higher seam and the extra lacquer, the average has come down to 34. Big change. 

Aaron Finch: "For the people at home, what the extra layer of lacquer does on the ball is it just keeps it harder for a little bit longer. So in the past, there's been criticism that the ball goes soft really quick, particularly on hard Australian surfaces. So what it does now is with that extra layer, it just is another layer of protection.

"It shines up a lot better. There's also something about it that helps it swing a little bit more consistently. So yeah, I think it's been really good since I've retired."

Courtesy - 7Cricket

Tushar Bhaduri: The Optus Stadium pitch is a new-ball surface. Once the innings gets to around the 30-over mark, batting seems to get easier, even for lower-order players as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood showed. The ball still went past the edge on a regular basis, but there didn’t seem to be the zip seen in the final session of the first day.

To be fair, 30 overs is a long time – 10 more than a full T20 innings – and the course of a game can be decided during that period. It puts a premium on a sturdy defensive technique and a strong mind in top-order batsmen, something not quite seen in the first innings of both sides.

As the last Australian pair dug in and put on the biggest partnership of the innings, India were forced to bring on debutant Nitish Reddy into the attack. Even though he went past the edge and Starc took a few blows to the body and the helmet, batting didn’t seem such a hazardous occupation. It brought the option of bringing on off-spinner Washington Sundar into the mix as even the No.11 batsmen seemed to be getting comfortable after Jasprit Bumrah finished his spell. Especially against Reddy, Hazlewood was getting behind the line without much trouble.

Sundar has been brought into the attack here. It is not a bad move as there are two left-handers in the middle however, it is also indicative that India is losing a bit of patience here which might not be the greatest thing because the ball is quite a bit old and Starc is looking to play on the patience of the Indian players. It seems like he is determined to take Australia as close as possible to the Indian total and will then pull the trigger and unleash all the shots in the book. Josh Hazlewood is looking quite composed in the middle he is blocking very nicely and is not panicking whatsoever.

“The tattoo shows the warrior and tiger. Reddy told 7Cricket.

“Whenever I see the tattoo, I just want to feel like you’re the warrior when you’re playing in the centre.

“So when a tiger makes his territory in the jungle, so it doesn’t allow any other animal or any other thing to come in that. So that’s how I want to feel. Like when you’re in the centre, you need to be like you’re the king. So that’s how I want to be,” he added.

Mitchell Starc is the top scorer for Australia in this inning. Once again his inning is an indication that if batters are willing to apply themselves there are runs that can be churned out however, the batters all looked like they were short of match practice as there were plenty of deliveries that could be left on length from both batters but did not happen and both sides capitulated Starc because of his tall height has been able to play the ball under his eyes no matter how much of a rise there was and leave deliveries that were above his eye line. These are lessons to take from both batting units on how to bat on this surface.

"I feel like India relaxed a bit after the last wicket and are running short of ideas," he says.

"It's not the number of runs that is the concern, it is the nuisance value of this partnership.

"That is not good for the opening batters because mentally you start to bat when the eighth wicket falls.

"Mentally you're getting ready and then suddenly you go out to bat and you're a little extra tired."

This partnership is now irritating for India. Not that runs are coming quickly here but they are making Indians bowl more overs and keeping them on the field for that much longer. Not to complain this early in the series about work load but it might take its toil as the series goes on. Bumrah did bowl a six-over burst in the morning and Rana came up with seven. And despite that, they could only manage to pick two wickets. The ball is now 44 overs old and it is doing a lot less. India needs a wicket quickly here the longer it goes it sucks zeal out of Indian players which they have come in with today morning.

Bumrah has brought in the changes since the break. Mohammed Siraj has come into the attack and Nitish from the other end. Delicate passage of play for both sides. It can go either way. With the changes coming in there is every chance Mitchell Starc takes the game away from India, both Siraj and Reddy must keep the pressure that was built in the first hour. It seems like even Bumrah is worried about the runs here as he has in-out fields at this stage of the innings instead of going all-attack and keeping everyone in. The wicket too is looking much better to bat on than yesterday. 

It has been a calmer session compared to what has happened in this Test match thus far. Only two wickets fell in this hour and the wicket seems to be getting better for batting. Whenever India gets to bat today be this session later in the day if the top order applies themselves and takes the shine of the new ball there are a few runs to be taken. It won't be an exaggeration to say India can get 250-300 in the second innings if everything goes to plan. However, if they do get bundled out for a low score Australia will have good conditions to chase them down as well. Interesting times in the game.

Well, Pant missed a chance. It was straightforward for the first slip however, Pant attempted it and missed it. Bumrah was unhappy with it. Immediately after that Starc decided to launch a counter attack and runs came quickly in the last 10 minutes or so. India has to be very wary here Mitchell Starc is someone who can score runs pretty quickly and he has been showing intentions of doing that for a long time. Australia are inching closer to 100 and every run after that scored will give Australia a lot of confidence and will dent the momentum India gained in this game. 

Australia would be disappointed with this batting performance. And if one is being brutally honest India has bowled way better than Australia did. It is a low-scoring affair and it is hard to blame bowlers. However, Pat Cummins in the first innings took about 12-13 overs to get into some sort of rhythm. The Indian seamers on the other hand have looked at it right from the first ball. Also, there was a passage of play when Reddy and Pant were batting Lyon bowled a few lose overs which let a few runs away and that partnership went and helped India to get 150 but India did not let any passages of such sort creep in.

Rana got Lyon it was a short-length delivery however, the line was good and on the stumps. It created a doubt in the mind of the batter if to play or not and in the end, he ended up gloving it to third slip. Australia have now lost nine and they are under threat of getting bowled out under 100. India seems like they are going to take a healthy chunk of the lead unless Mitchell Starc blitzs with a brilliant cameo here which is highly unlikely because if he has to score quickly he has to take on Bumrah as well which will be an uphill task for anyone. 

Hashit Rana is bowling a little short today. He was bowling a tad bit fuller yesterday the balls today are just going past batters. He needs to push it a little forward not as much as batters start driving but at least that nagging length where there is an uncertainty if they should play or leave the ball on length. Also, his line has been around the 4th and 5th stump line which is letting the batters leave the ball easily. It is not a new ball where it is mandatory to make the batters play everything but bowling around the stumps in the morning session has its perks. The moisture in the wicket might dart odd one in the first hour or so.

The ball is not seaming like it did yesterday morning. Seems like the surface has settled down better today. There was also a lot of green lush on the deck yesterday but today because of the sun the surface has changed to a bit of straw colour. Today might be the best day to bat on this wicket and India would be hoping to bowl out Australia as quickly as possible and make full use of the best conditions to bat on it might be the only day as the more sun this surface gets exposed there is a high chance of cracks opening up and ball start to behave oddly.

We are done with the opening over of the day. Rana took the ball. Nothing extravagant; he stuck to the right lines and lengths. Mitchell Starc was happy to leave most of them, and Alex Carey was the same. Interestingly, Bumrah went with Rana first instead of Mohammed Siraj. As we update skipper picks a five-fer. It was a good length delivery and Carey could have left it alone however, there was a little uncertainty and that's what did the damage. The fraction of a second in decision-making took the edge to keeper Australia have lost now eight wickets. 

We are moments away from action. The sun is shining bright. Australia has opted for a heavy roller which means the pitch will worsen. India needs to pick three wickets here early to come back and bat and post a total, ensuring they can take a 1-0 lead. It is going to enthralling day of cricket do stay with us.

Marnus Labuschagne's (2  off 52 balls) is the second-slowest recorded 2 for Australia in Tests after WLawry's 55 balls in 1969. Jason Gillespie's 47-ball effort in 2001 relegated to third place. The well-known blocker of thr 19th century, Alec Bannerman (46 balls), now fourth.

Whichever length Hazlewood hits, he produces extra bounce, with almost every ball hitting the top half of the bat, often cannoning onto the splice, a bit harder, a bit higher. (READ MORE)

Steve Smith and Virat Kohli ruled the cricketing world in the 2010s, but the 2020s have been tougher for these giants. Day one in Perth was yet another chapter in that story, as Kohli was out for a battling 5 and Smith was the second victim in as many balls for a rampaging Jasprit Bumrah. Kohli also dropped a sitter.

After a dramatic opening day, Australia's tail needs to wag furiously to avoid a hefty first-innings deficit against India at Perth Stadium

The first round to Australia and Hazlewood. Kohli has revealed his card: stand outside the crease a touch, and try to get forward as much as possible and negotiate the ball from there. It hasn’t worked in Perth in the first innings. What will the second round bring in? (READ MORE)

After India were bowled for 150 by Tea on Day 1, and Jasprit Bumrah had done what he does best, a triple strike that left Australia gasping. The answer came in the final session in an utterly stunning fashion, even as the shadows slowly crept across the arena, as India responded by an audacious counterpunch that left Australia reeling at 67 for 7 at stumps. (READ MORE)

Both sets of batsmen have shown enough issues to be concerned about as a team and about modern-day Test cricket. But Test isn’t over yet and no conclusions can be drawn. No one expected India to be blanked out 0-3 at home against New Zealand and not many, if any, expected them to bounce back as stunningly after being bowled out for 150 in a couple of sessions. (READ MORE)

KL Rahul was fuming after an overturned decision by the TV umpire in the first session of the first Test against Australia. He was given out caught behind appeal off the bowling of Mitchell Starc was initially given not out by on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough. After unsuccessfully requesting additional angles, TV umpire Richard Illingworth overturned the on-field call, stunning Rahul. (READ MORE)