India vs Australia Highlights, 4th Test Day 5: AUS beat IND by 184 runs at Melbourne and take 2-1 lead in series

On himself, captain and batsman: 'I stand where I am standing today. Nothing to think about the past. Few results have gone not well. As a batsman certain things I have been trying haven't. Disappointed in coming here and some things not falling inn place The team and I also need to look. Still one game to go...2-2 draw would be really nice

On regrouping: 'We have to look at things to correct. Not much time of course.. But we just want NOT to give up. When we tried in Sydney try to do everything possible and take the momentum towards us. I won't say we have played bad cricket on this tour. Some things are bad and some things are good. We now have the opportunity in Sydney

On pant shot 'today or first innings wala?! There hasn't been any discussion about today. We are all disappointed. Pant needs to understand what is required from him.. More than anyone else telling him. He himself needs to understand what is required. In the past, he has had lots of success. As a captain is mixed.. When it doesn't work, it's frustrating. Success and failure need balance.  Hard to have a conversation as a captain.. He has to figure it out. What's the risk percentage..do you want to let the opposition come back into the game. I know him well. I understand his game. We have had chats. Things he does also works. Fine line in telling him not to do or to do.

On jaiswal out 'I don't know what to make it that as technology didn't show anything. Naked eye it did seem that it touched something. In all fairness he did touch the ball depends how they want to use tech. More often than not we seem to be taking on wrong side of it. I feel we been lil unfortunate.

Nitish ' we saw lots of potential. That's why we selected him. He has come and shown what he is capable of. Superb mindset, technique, he wants to fight it out. I hope he plays for India for long. From here he can only go up as he has all the tools

On pant what was your msg at tea break:' what was the situation at tea? Smiles. He is a good player. When he got out unfortunately we lost a couple of quick wickets and we knew that was going to be tough. I know we have to be positive etc but getting 6 an over was going to be tough on that pitch. When we had 7 wickets left, we were positive. Not get ahead of others.. just play the situation..and see how it goes but we never felt we had the opportunity to put pressure

"What an amazing Test match, I reckon one of the best I've been part of.

"All week the crowd has been ridiculous, and it's been amazing to be part of.

"Marnus helped me out in that second innings big time, happy to contribute. Amazing innings from Steve, winning the toss, it wasn't easy on the first day, to get up to high 400s was terrific.

"We wanted to take an India victory out of the equation (by not declaring). We had plenty of runs to play with, and as many helmets around the bat as we could.

"We put a lot of work into our lower-order batting, we work a lot on how best to bowl to the opposition batters firstly, but also how we can contribute with the bat. We were a bit behind on the over rate, so we thought, get Trav in there, it may help us out with that.

"Very happy change room, we'll savour this for a little bit before we get to Sydney."

“It is pretty disappointing…we wanted to fight until the end but unfortunately couldn’t do it.

“Tough to just assess the last session. If you look at the overall Test match we had our opportunities…we just didn’t take them.

“I know things can get difficult and get tough as well but that is what we are here for…we want to play hard cricket.

“We just were not good enough.

“We tried everything we could…they bowled perfectly.

“We wanted to go for the target….we wanted to have that positive mindset. You want to win games.”

Mitchell Starc: “It’s got to be up there with a Grand Final doesn’t it? Fantastic way to finish the week. I think it’s been five fantastic days of cricket. The crowd, the turn out from obviously both India and Australia has been fantastic. The atmosphere, bloody awesome. Nearly out of gas, but it’s been a great week.

Travis Head: “I had four and a half days off this week…nice to contribute. Pretty relaxed group, we knew what we had to do. Pat and Ronny come up with the plans, delivered that and we were able to execute it.

“Electric. The crowd has been exceptional for five days…what a week to be involved in.

“It’s two bloody good teams going at it…that’s probably one of the best Test matches I’ve been involved in.”

Head plucks out the stumps and gives it to the debutant Konstas

Lyon picks Siraj and it is done now. India lost the game by 184 runs. There was hope in the noon session when Pant and Jaiswal were batting that India can get something out of this game however, in the evening session Pat Cummins turned it around and once again it is Pant whose wicket started the collapse. Jaiswal's wicket will definitely be a talking point but Australia did play extremely well. It was a match of high quality with elite players going at each other in the end India just was short of gas when they needed to push for a little longer. We will be back with the presentation folks do stay with us.

Scot Boland picks Jasprit Bumrah. It was a delivery on fourth stump ad the edge was dying down on Steven Smith before he dived forward to take a terrific catch. India has now lost nine wickets. Mohammed Siraj has walked into the middle now and we might assume it is going to be Sundar who has to take the bulk of the strike

PC: Sriram Veera

Amidst all the controversy India lose another one and it is Akash Deep. The ball came back in and Akash got the inside edge and short-leg took a simple catch. Boland once again starts the spell and picks a wicket. India has now lost eight wickets what a turn around this session has been. They have not lost one in the noon session and in this one, they lost five and the way things are going here we might see two more. This will be a hard-earned win for Australia though India did fight well the flaws and holes in the side eventually caught up with them.

In my view, that decision is out. The third umpire did make the correct decision in the end. With the technology protocols, we do have a hierarchy of redundancy. And when the third umpire sees a clear deflection – a clear deflection – off the bat, there is no need to go any further and use any other form of technology. A clear deflection is conclusive evidence. In this particular case, what we have seen from the third umpire, is they used a secondary form of technology which for whatever reason hasn't shown the same conclusive evidence of audio to back up the clear deflection. But the third umpire did the right thing and went back to the clear deflection and overturned the on-field decision, so in my view, the correct decision made.

"I can see the ball has made contact with the gloves. Joel, you need to change your decision."

And with that, Jaiswal is out! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/biOQP4ZeDB

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 30, 2024

Jaiswal isn’t happy with that decision. The snicko didn’t show much and he is now talking to the umpires who shrug the shoulders. And finally he is off….

Well, the drama continues. Yashasvi Jaiswal is gone now it was a short ball from Cummins that he tried to pull and the ball looped in and Carey took an excellent catch diving forward. The umpire did not give it out and Cummins went upstairs however, the Snickometer did not show much but there was a deflection and the third umpire gave it out. Quite a moment in the game and quite a decision to make by the third umpire. It now feels like Australia is there and they are going to bag this game and take lead in the series. Whenever Australia needs the most Pat Cummins delivers.

So far Sundar has shown the calmness and temperament to stay in the middle. Even in the first innings, we have seen that he played over 160 balls for fifty runs and about 80 balls for his cameo in Perth. It is all about eating away at the overs for India at this point. However, what that mini-collapse did for India is that once the new ball is taken they don't have the cushion of the proper batters. One wicket falls the tail will come into the middle and it will be too much to ask them to defend and show faith that they can do it. This partnership has to see it through for india.

Two balls prior, Pat Cummins moved in from short mid-off and had a word with Konstas. Now every ball, Konstas is also revving up the crowd with his gestures asking them to get into the game. And he also continues with his regular talk, hand movements on the grass etc…. And drinks

Ever since Australia took out Travis Head from the close-in position and got Sam Konstas in there, much fun has ensued. And some mayhem. He has been at the Indians non-stop chattering away, and at times even flicking his hands on the grass. Jaiswal once pulled out at the last instant, and Pant had come across for a chat with Jaiswal. And now post the departure of Pant, and two more, Jaiswal is probably getting sucked into it again. He is trying to drive, flash shots .. and a smiling Konstas is loving it - and feeding more chatter in

India lost another one and it was Nitish Kumar Reddy it was a classical off-spinner delivery from around the wicket the ball pitched and went away with the angle as the batter tried to defend with the angled bat and Steven Smith at slip took an excellent catch. It has opened for Australia now they would be smelling blood. Panic will start in the Indian dressing room. Sundar has come in he is the right man to do the job from here on but can he handle the pressure that is the important thing. There are a lot of men now around the bat and are having a constant chatter with the batters.

Thunderous cheers go around as Nitish Reddy comes to bat. Nothing succeeds like sucess

Scott Boland comes and picks Ravindra Jadeja the ball takes off and Jadeja is taken by surprise. How often we have seen Jadeja have troubles against Boland early on in his innings? It was a cracking move yet again by Pat Cummins. Captaincy has gone to a whole new level since Tea Break. India is under pressure now. Nitish Kumar Reddy has walked into the middle. This is what the problem of getting into a completely defensive mindset there is just no application of the pressure on the other side. Nitish and Jaiswal might be better off resorting to their natural game.

And the gamble paid off. Pant who was batting so well could not resist the temptation and pulled a short ball from Travis Head it got high on the bat and Mitchell Marsh at cow corner took an excellent catch running backwards. This is the breakthrough Australia were looking for. This is exceptional captaincy from Pat Cummins to bring in Head the match-up was right everything was calculated and Pant fell into the trap. And for India now another left-hander walks in Ravindra Jadeja and he averages 16 in the fourth innings of Test matches.

Australia has decided to go with spin from either end of the session. With two left-handers in they have opted to go for Travis Head and Nathan Lyon which is not a bad ploy. Now that Indians have seen of the main bowlers there just might be a little lapse of concentration and batters might make mistakes. Travis Head is quite a handy off-spinner he does have the habit of picking wickets and that is what Cummins will be hoping. We have seen Marnus too chipped in with an over however, with that was too easy as batter did not have to play at a single ball.

We are in the final session but the result of this game just seems to be decided. India has nothing to lose from here on they did the hard work and with seven wickets in hand draw should not be a problem. Australia have to do all the hard work here.

That is a terrific session for India. Both Jaiswal and Pant batted magnificently. Nothing extraordinary happened, but it was all about doing the basics right, and they did it well. Australia had the game in their grips in the morning session but now it is increasingly feeling draw is the most probable result possible in this game. The next new ball is still 26 overs away which is a long time. Even they do take they might not have enough time to bowl out until India shoot themselves after the Tea break. Do join us for the final session of the Test match it is going to be another fascinating one.

This isn’t the time for ‘I told you so’, but of sadness,” the 78-year old Jim Maxwell, the ABC radio commentator for 51 years says.

A day before he had said how Kohli just hasn’t showed the mental discipline and how Rohit is “sadly past it”. (Read more from Sriram Veera)

We are 25 minutes away from Tea and it has been India's session. When the team sheet came out on Day 1 the balance of the side looked off however, it is the changes they made and the balance they chose to have ensured that they didn't lose this Test match. We are not there yet but it increasingly feels difficult to pick seven wickets on this one until the new ball comes where they may chip in a couple but it just seems to be things have completely flattened out. It was not the flattest wicket but it was just an extremely competitive Test match with some exceptional innings involved in it.

Jaiswal has gone past his half-century and is looking to continue here. It has been a pretty gritty knock from him. However, in the lat 10 minutes or so he seems to be getting a little itchy and looking for boundaries which might not be needed but as long as the risk is calculated and he does play the percentage well it should be good enough. However, India has now slowly but steadily have reached a decent position in the game and can dictate terms from here. There is a change in the body language of Aussie players here as well they were buzzing in the morning but it seems to be sucked out now.

Pant is blocking the ball nicely here it seems like the message is loud and clear. Pat Cummins have to think of something here. Slip in a slower one or ball a yorker just to upset the rhythm as both batters are looking in the groove. The longer these two bat it will frustrate Australia more and most importantly the series will be alive going into the Sydney Test. What a turnaround this has been for India in this Test match. After Day 2 it felt like Australia will steam roll India in this Test match but that partnership between Nitish and Sundar has been a game changer in this Test match.

We have reached the first water break in the noon session, and Australia has yet to create any inroads. Nothing is happening on the surface and it seems like we have got to the point where Cummins has to come up with creative plans to pick wickets or batters do something unusual and play a scoop shot or run a single which is not there but as of now, it is going pretty steadily. What this partnership will do is settle down the nerves in the dressing room. India is looking for a draw here they might push on late but at this point it looks like they are going with safety safety-first approach. Jaiswal has completed his fifty

Pat Cummins has brought himself into the attack replacing Mitchell Starc. There was plenty of talk about who are the two batters Australia be most worried about one was Jaiswal and the other was Pant and both of them are batting in the middle and it will be interesting to see what sort of tactics Cummins has up his sleeve to pick wickets if they don't manage to pick either of them they will start to counterpunch and it will create panic in the Australian team. Though the total might not be chased down but the memories of Gabba will be fresh in their minds and panic can make teams do strange things as we have seen last time.

This is a very important spell for Nathan Lyon here. He has had not much to do in the series as the wickets in other venues have been seamer-friendly but if Australia has to win today he has to create those inroads. There is not much help for him but if he can slow it down and toss it up he might find some turn in this innings. As per India they will try and put pressure on him. It will be a calculated risk nothing out of the ordinary but they will force him to try different things and ensure that Cummins has to bring back the seamers yet again and tire them.

Yashaavi Jaiswal has been once again over-enthusiastic with his running yet again. We have seen him get himself run in the first innings trying to sneak a single which was not there. Now with Pant too he is looking for that imaginary singles and we already have had a few moments of confusion. Pant has had a word with Jaiswal about running between the wickets. We have to wait and see if it gets sorted or India in recent times made it a habit of losing wickets through runouts in crucial moments and we will end seeing something like that yet again.

Jaiswal has been constantly looking to walk down the track against Boland to negate any swing that has brought Carey up to the stumps. It is not a bad tactic though as fast bowlers will feel a touch uncomfortable when keepers do come up. He is not as quick is Boland like Cummins and Starc and once the ball gets old he can be scored if India applies pressure. However, having said that they need to have wickets and partnerships going to do that. They have been losing wickets in clusters one becomes 2 to 3 pretty quickly and that has to stop they need to keep building partnerships and eat away at the total.

Jaiswal has spent a lot of time in the middle now while the chaos is happening at the other end he left the ball and is picking his moments to attack the bowlers. We saw him playing this kind of inning in Perth and against West Indies last year. He can maintain that happy balance between attack and defense. He can play such sort of innings today here because the pitch is not doing much and the batters can play their natural game. If there had been uneven bounce he might have looked to counter but in this innings no need of such things.

Both Rishabh Pant and Jaiswal are resuming post-lunch for India we have no signs of aggression yet from either of them they are playing each ball on its merit. From an Australian perspective, they have started with Mitchell Starc and Boland after the break. With two left-handers in the middle it might be only a matter of time we see Lyon for a spell. We are getting into that phase now when the ball stops moving the seam goes off and bowlers have not much to work with. As we have seen in the morning session there is not much of uneven bounce either hence if India wants to bat they can apply themselves.

Rishabh Pant has walked into the middle alongside YashasvI Jaiswal. Australia will be looking to create further inroads while India will be looking to not lose more than couple of wickets and eat away at the balls

We have a tradition of sorts in the dressing room that we follow during the first team meeting before a major tournament where every member of the squad has to give a speech. We followed that routine at the T20 World Cup as well.

When my turn came, I got emotional. The disappointment of losing in the final of the ODI World Cup in 2023 hadn’t subsided and I told my teammates that I hoped that this time, we would return home with the trophy. It was a sentiment many in the room shared. (Read more)

Re the attendance record - 
Joel Morrisson, CA EGM Events and Operations said:

“We’ve been blown away by the support of fans across the Boxing Day Test. 

“Our partnership with the MCC and Victorian Government is a special one, and it’s been a great team effort to achieve this result. 

“The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a blockbuster event, and it has been fantastic to see such strong attendances right across the summer. 

“A big thank you to Australian cricket fans for your ongoing support of our great game.

“This demonstrates the power of cricket to bring communities together.”

NRMA Insurance Boxing Day Test
Day 5 current attendance is 51,371.
The total attendance of 350,700 is the greatest for any Test match at the MCG exceeding the total of 350,534 v England in 1937 over 6 days.
(This also the greatest attendance for any Test match played in Australia.)

India’s superstar seamer Jasprit Bumrah was at his unplayable best at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Sunday, claiming 4-56 including his 200th wicket in a breathtaking performance in the fourth test against Australia.

Bumrah dominated Australia’s middle order, removing Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey cheaply before the home side’s tail wagged, reaching 228-9 at stumps, with one day of play remaining. Australia leads by 333 runs.

Earlier, Australia lost four wickets for 11 runs in 22 deliveries, slumping from 80-2 to 91-6 in a dramatic middle-order collapse after lunch.

But the home side rallied thanks to a 57-run partnership between Marnus Labuschagne (70) and Pat Cummins (41).

India resumed Sunday on 358-9 and was bowled out for 369 in reply to the home side’s 474.

Right at the stroke of lunch India lose Kohli. It was ball pitched outside the off-stump and the batter drove at it and got the edge to the slips. Sounds familiar? yes. He has got out in the same way again. India is in deep trouble now. The downside of being too defensive is when wicket starts crumbling the panic sets in and that is what is happening with India at this moment. The game is not over yet but the side is in huge trouble. It will require something remarkable for India to draw this Test match from here on. Win just seems to be a bit far fetched now.

We are getting closer to the lunch here and it has been Australia's session. Since Kohli has walked into the middle he too is looking to occupy the crease instead of looking to score some runs. Seems like India first want to take away the option of losing first and then go for it.

Pat Cummins was on the floor of his home sobbing away as he was packing to go travel for the Ashes series of 2021 when his wife walked in with their newborn. His first kid, a son, was born just four days back and she was taken back. He would tell her that he didn’t feel like leaving them, and she assuaged him. A few weeks into the series Tim Paine lost his captaincy after the sexting saga, and Cummins became the Australian skipper.

Cummins was crying at four when he excitedly burst into the bathroom to share with his sister a lolly he had been given. The irate younger sister slammed the door shut on him without realising his fingers were at the door – and he lost a few centimetres of his right middle finger. At the hospital after the doctors did their thing, his father would mimic bowling an imaginary ball, and when quizzed by the puzzled wife, he would say he just was wondering if Pat can bowl after this injury. Cummins would not only bowl, but in many ways started to bowl only after this episode; so he was never bothered about that finger’s length. (Read more)

With Carey standing up to the stumps to Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith asks Usman Khawaja to move out of first slip and goes to stand himself there. Good move that. With Carey almost stand outside off, the view of the first-slipper would be blocked to an extent. And Smith’s reflexes are way better than Usman’s. And so he does the shuffle. Australia not missing a single beat here.

The Australian section in the stands had started to boo Virat as he was about to take stirke. Just then came roaring voices of Indians, quite large in nubber, shouting ‘Kohli Kohli!’ and the boos dimmed out.

Pat Cummins strikes he picks two wickets in an over. First, it was Rohit Sharma who tried to work the ball on the leg-side and got the leading edge to gully Mitchell Marsh who took an exceptional catch and then it was KL Rahul when the ball seamed back in and moved away at the last moment. While it was a poor shot from Rohit, Rahul got two cracking deliveries in both the innings. Like in the first innings Virat Kohli has walked in early but it is not going to be easy for him this time as there is scoreboard pressure and Cummins is looking in exceptional rhythm.

We have reached the first water break and India would be cautiously optimistic about how things have gone so far. They have played and missed but they did not do anything rash which is the most important thing as of now. However, they also need to ensure that they don't get into a groove just defending the ball through and through there needs to be a healthy rotation of the strike as the bowlers have to constantly alter their plan and with left-hand and right-hand combination there also need to be change in lines and lengths. As we update Cummins picks Rohit Sharma.

India might be considering to be a little more attacking against Boland here. He is someone who doesn't err from his length but we have seen in this series on previous occasions when batters have gone after him he did not have many answers to respond with. But it is a high-risk high-reward game to attack him but if it does comes of Australia will be out of options and have to go to Mitchell Marsh and the likes who have not been in good form either. But it is all ifs and buts at the moment as regardless as of now both openers seem like they just want to see of this new ball.

Until he got himself runout Jaiswal looked good in the first innings and he has started well so far here in the second innings. He is not trying to be overly attacking but is playing each ball on its merit, which is important. Also what will be interesting is how will India go once the ball is old will they keep batting cautiously till evening and then think of acceleration or will they start going once the bowlers are done with their opening bursts here. Also it will be a test of Cummins and his captaincy here. He has to be proactive instead of reactive as India does bat long.

The overs are ticking by here and India has not lost a wicket yet which are positive sign however, we have seen in this match how momentum can swing within a few overs hence there is no scope for complacency. Having said that Rohit has looked good it is not to say he is like he is in his fluent best but the feet are moving better and instead of going after the bowling he seems to be prepared to grind it out in the middle and bring back his 2021 form. Also, Australian bowlers have not hit the stumps often in terms of length they have been too wavered at this point in time in the innings.

We have a bowling change here Boland is brought into the attack. He is a very good record in this ground and Australia would be hoping he will get some of his magic done today. Also, Australia has to use a lot of spin today because all of these pacers did plenty of work in the first innings. We have seen when the ball is tossed up slower in there air there is some turn on offer hence Lyon will be the most important bowlers in this innings. It is him who has to do it as there are still no cracks or anything on this wicket for the seamers to work with once the ball gets older.

Last ball of the 6th over: That last ball from Cummis kept a touch low from a length outside off. And it bounces once before it reaches the keeper. That spot has been doing that. This one was away-shaper. It would be interesting to see if Cummins can bring one back in from that spot…

Regardless of what India India's approach in this innings they have to constantly keep rotating strike in the middle. They cannot afford to end up at one end and let the bowlers dictate terms. We have seen how lethal Cummins can be when the batters are just stuck at one end. He keeps constantly changing the fielders and changing tactics to batters to muddle with their heads. The good thing so far is both batters have been trusting their defence and playing some positive cricket. It seems like the Indian team is aware that if they see off this new ball runs are there to be had.

Mitchell Starc is looking in good rhythm here. He is getting to move the ball both ways. There were a few concerns about his fitness coming in today but the evidence so far suggests that he is fine. This is going to be a stern test for Yashasvi Jaiswal he is leaving quite bravely at this point and he needs to keep doing that. Once the ball gets old we have seen how fluently he could score runs in the first innings. On the other hand, Pat Cummins has had a number of Rohit Sharma in this series, and from a matchup perspective Australia got the right batters at the right ends.

Jasiwal plays and misses. Rohit walks across for a chat

The chase begins. India needs 340 runs to win. The wicket is still good for batting however, the challenge for visitors here is to see this new ball. Play some orthodox cricket at least the shine goes off and once the shine of the ball goes the runs are there to have and they can be scored pretty quickly. It is massive innings for Rohit Sharma irrespective of what happens with his career. If he himself and Yashasvi Jaiswal can give India a start that will be huge. As per Australia they need a few early wickets with this new ball if they can pick early wickets it will create panic.

Jasprit Bumrah knocks over Nathan Lyon and has a stare at Garry. Yet another five-wicket haul for Jasprit Bumrah who picks up the final wicket in his first over and Australia are bowled out for 234.

Rohit Sharma has a long chat with Bumran and now runs over to his first slip spot